Scarlet Ribbons
by criminalxxxmindsxxxfreak
Summary: Spencer Reid was expecting a nice weekend in LA... until he finds Lila Archer dead in her home with a red smiley face painted in her blood. So why is Jane so certain it isn't Red John? And why does Lisbon assume this means it's Reid? Possible Jisbon
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I can't believe I'm saying this but, yes, this really is a Mentalist/Criminal Minds crossover XD**

**I am majorly obsessed with both shows, and Patrick Jane and Spencer Reid… It really shouldn't be so surprising, LOL**

**Anyway, this is set in mid-season 3 of "The Mentalist", before 3x16 so Hightower is still there and I'm not sure if I'll include LaRoche or not… As for Criminal Minds, I'm not really sure… Obviously, it's after the episode with Lila Archer …I'll say it's somewhere around 5x19 and definitely before the season 5 finale. I'm not going anywhere near season 6…**

**Opinions and comments and critiques of all kind welcome with open arms! I always appreciate feedback guys!**

-OoO-oOo-OoO-

_**Scarlet Ribbons**_

_**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**_

_**Chapter One**_

_**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**_

Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid was tired and a little bit excited as he climbed out of the taxi outside of the large stone home.

He glanced at his watch and sighed. 1:45 in the afternoon. He was over an hour late…

He'd left work as early as he could but his flight had been delayed and he'd been backed up in paperwork thanks to Morgan and Prentiss. But at least he was here now. He paid the driver and offered the young man a smile before grabbing his bag and satchel and making his way to the front door.

All of the lights were off, which he thought was strange. Feeling his nerves on edge, he tapped lightly on the door a few times and pressed the button for the doorbell. Nothing. He frowned, confused and worried.

"Lila?" he called, hitting the door a little harder this time. "Lila are you in there?"

After what felt like an eternity of no response, Spencer began banging on the door, "Lila!"

Still nothing. Now very worried, the young agent cautiously turned the door knob, surprised when the door swung open freely. Something was definitely wrong. Ever since her brush with a stalker a few years back, Lila had become far more security conscious. She'd never leave the door unlocked, even if she was home.

Slowly, Spencer entered the house, sitting his bags down by the door, his hand going to the gun that wasn't resting at his hip. He sighed, wishing he'd brought it with him. But instead, he settled for an umbrella in the stand by the door and he began to ease his way further into the house.

Every single light had been turned off and the house was filled with an eerie sort of silence. He swallowed heavily and made his way through the kitchen and living room, spotting nothing out of the ordinary. As he made his way up the stairs, his heart was pounding in his chest.

He reached the landing and was tempted to turn on the hall light to see better, but if there was someone still in the house, he didn't want to risk it. He took a deep breath and edged his way toward Lila's bedroom door where it stood, closed. Another anomaly. Lila almost always left her bedroom door open. Spencer didn't want to admit how scared he truly was as he lifted the umbrella between long fingers and reached out with his free hand to pull the door open.

The room was dark, the curtains on the far side drawn closed, filtering in very little light through the thick lavender fabric.

His heart stopped as he stared inside, fingers going numb around the umbrella's handle. On the wall, just above Lila's bed, a thin ray of afternoon light stretched across it from a tiny gap in the curtains, was a large, sad smiley face. Painted in blood…

**~/.\~**

Agent Teresa Lisbon was heading to the break room for a much need refill of coffee when her boss, Director of the CBI, Agent Hightower walked in with a look on her face that told her she had nothing but bad news. "Agent Hightower." She greeted the woman briefly, almost certain she wouldn't be getting that coffee refill she'd so been looking forward to.

Hightower got right to the point. "I just got a call from the Attorney General, Lisbon; I need your team in LA. A young actress, Lila Archer, was just found murdered in her home. It looks like Red John."

"Damn." Lisbon swore under her breath and sat the coffee mug aside. Red John and an actress. She was already beginning to feel a headache coming on.

"Yes, ma'am." She nodded.

"The media is going to be all over this one; I want regular updates. And try to control Jane. I know what Red John does to him, but we don't need some media scandal on our hands along with this murder."

"I'll do my best." Lisbon assured her, though if she was being honest, she'd been trying to control Patrick Jane for years and as far as she could tell, she'd made very little progress. She headed back out to the bullpen, scanning the area and finding the rest of her team, Agents Wayne Rigsby, Kimball Cho and Grace Van Pelt, all at their desks doing paperwork.

"Van Pelt, get in touch with the LAPD, tell them to hold all of their files and information on the Lila Archer case." She turned to face Cho and Rigsby, "Get your overnight bags packed, we leave in twenty."

"Yes, Boss." The three agents chimed as Van Pelt got on the phone immediately.

"What's the case?" Rigsby asked as he stood and shrugged his jacket on.

Lisbon frowned, "A young actress, Lila Archer. Murdered in her home. We'll get the details when we get there."

"Why's it ours?" Cho frowned.

Lisbon took a deep breath, "It looks like Red John."

There was a moment of silence as the agents met eyes, worry flashing across their faces before they jumped back into action. Lisbon turned toward the brown leather couch and sighed. "Has anyone seen Jane?"

"Uh, no. He's probably upstairs in the attic." Rigsby answered, looking up at Lisbon's annoyed and worried face. She sighed, shaking her head and making her way to the stairs.

Lately, Jane had taken to spending most of his time upstairs in the attic. Even taking to sleeping there sometimes…. Ever since last summer, when Red John had saved his life… She was starting to get worried about him and she wasn't looking forward to telling him that they had another possible Red John murder. He was even more reckless when those cases came up.

She knocked gently on the closed door, wondering if he was sleeping now or obsessively going over the case file, papers strewn about the room, crime scene photos splayed out on his makeshift bed.

"Come in, Lisbon." Jane's voice sang through the closed door and she frowned, pushing her way inside. As she'd thought, he was standing in the middle of the room, staring at his little bed, photographs of Red John crime scenes spread out in a pattern that only he could understand.

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Who else would come up here to find me in the middle of the afternoon?" Jane asked, looking up at her, his blue eyes tired but incredibly intense as they stared right at her. "I take it we have another case?"

She sighed, her eyes flitting toward the crime scene photos, "Yeah. It looks like it could be Red John."

He frowned, tilting his head thoughtfully. "Where?"

"LA."

"Who's the victim?" he asked, brows falling down over his eyes. If Lisbon was being honest, he looked a little crazy. His curly blond hair was sticking up all over the place, his eyes were a bit wild, his clothes rumpled, vest hanging open, sleeves rolled up. He was definitely letting the case get to him.

"Lila Archer. She's some kind of actress. I don't know anything else; we'll have to wait until we get there and let the LAPD brief us on their findings."

"Hm…" Jane frowned, "Well, let's go then." Jane said, grabbing his jacket from the chair and heading to the door.

"Hold up," Lisbon frowned, turning to face him as he pulled the door open. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Right as rain." Jane nodded seriously. "Why wouldn't I be?"

She frowned, "You're sure?"

"Positive. I'm fine, Lisbon. Trust me." He grinned widely at her and she smiled halfheartedly back, nodding and following him down the stairs. She wished she could trust him, really. But the way he'd been acting lately… there was no way she'd trust him. Especially not when it came to Red John…

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: So… there it is. The first chapter. Yes, I DID kill Lila Archer. And yes, I also DID happen to really like her character. But it was necessary… And I love screwing with Reid… sorry guys.**

**Next chapter Jane and Reid meet ;P I'm most definitely looking forward to that…**

**Please let me know what you think! Reviews are welcomed with open arms!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to SlasherrGirl, J3nny-Happy, msdarque, Grrrreat554, and dark. angel .casia for the reviews! And thanks for all of the alerts guys; I'm glad you're interested in this! And of course, thanks for those who added this to favorites (already!) I really appreciate it!**

**To be honest, I wasn't 100% happy with that first chapter. I re-wrote it and edited it a few times and that was as close to golden as I could get it…**

***pouts***

**Anyway, I'm glad you peeps are interested X) Please review and let me know! Feedback is always a good thing!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Two**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

It was nearing four in the afternoon when they finally pulled into the driveway of Lila Archer's home. Rigsby whistled lightly as they stepped out of the SUV. The house was large and typical of most LA actors and actresses, though possibly a bit more secluded than they would've guessed.

"She must've been some actress." Rigsby remarked.

Van Pelt shook her head, giving the man a disapproving look and he instantly looked repentant as they walked toward the open front door. Crime scene techs were still inside, along with a couple of officers from the LAPD, questioning a young man with long, curly brown hair across the room. He was fidgeting nervously, obviously broken up and not really up to questing at the moment, though Lisbon had to say, he seemed to be holding up well considering…

"That the boyfriend?" she asked one of the officers on their way out.

"Yeah." The young man nodded. "Discovered the body at about 1:50-something. Called it in immediately."

She nodded, frowning as she studied the young man. "Let's check out the bedroom first. It's upstairs, right?"

The officer nodded, "Uh, yeah. First door on the left, techs are still working; her body hasn't even been removed yet."

"Perfect." Jane was the first one up the stairs not bothering to wait for the others. The officer frowned after him and Lisbon pressed her lips together, looking down. "He's… a consultant." She explained. "He's under a lot of stress lately… First door on the left, you said?"

She didn't wait for a response, motioning for the team to follow her as she quickly made her way up the stairs, already nervous about how Jane was going to handle this case. They hadn't had a possible Red John murder since the previous summer… His reaction was bound to be even more reckless than usual.

**~/.\~**

Reid was holding back the tears by now, though his eyes were still wet and every nerve in his body was tingling. All he wanted at that moment was to be alone. To get rid of the police officers and make the questions end. He needed to process this. At this point, he was still mostly numb to it, though his mind shied away from all thought of Lila.

Walking into that bedroom… seeing her body there, mangled like that. All of that blood. He swallowed bile. It was his job to view horrible crime scenes objectively and if he was being honest, he'd seen a few that were worse than this one, but he'd never discovered the body of someone he cared about before. This was something entirely different and horrible. He was having a difficult time truly wrapping his mind around it.

He turned instinctively when more people entered the house and he frowned, watching as a shorter woman, who was clearly in charge, spoke briefly to one of the cops before heading upstairs after a blond man with an almost desperate, intense look in his eyes.

"Well, Mr. Reid, I think that's all we'll need for now." The Detective, a man named Stark, said. "The CBI may have a few questions for you though, so stick around." He offered him a soft, sad sort of smile and Reid frowned.

"CBI? Is that who just came in?"

"Um, I believe so, yes. This looks like one of their cases so they're taking over the investigation from here as I understand it."

"Of course." Reid nodded, swallowing as he frowned toward the stairs.

Detective Stark eyed him sadly, "I'm sorry for your loss." He said quietly as he and his partner turned to leave. Reid stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do really… He didn't know what he was feeling inside at the moment, everything was tangled up and painful. What he did know was that Lila had been murdered and he wasn't going to stop until whoever had done it was brought in.

He pressed his lips together and made his way toward the stairs, fighting against the wave of nausea and grief that struck him as his mind wandered back to the scene he'd walked into hours previously.

**~/.\~**

Lisbon entered the bedroom behind Jane, watching as he silently moved to the bed where the body was covered in plastic wrap. Van Pelt discreetly looked away, her eyes sad, as Jane's face became intently serious, his eyes focused on the smiley face on the wall above the bed.

"You again…" the forensic tech in the room, a tall thin young man with long dark hair plastered to his face, frowned.

"Yes, me again." Jane said absently, his eyes studying the wall. He didn't even bother to look Brett in the face and the tech's lips curled angrily as he cut his eyes at him. Lisbon sighed and silently prayed that for once Jane wouldn't try with everything in his power to piss the man off.

He reached toward the plastic wrap and lifted it up just enough to see the woman's face. She had been pretty, he thought. Long blond hair, her eyes staring wide open. He was sure that had she been alive, they would've sparkled brilliantly… Slender, tall. And young. Very young, she couldn't possibly have been older than thirty. Her throat was cut, a single brutal gash carved into muscle, flesh and bone. Cuts littered her torso, her stomach an unrecognizable spatter of organs and blood, the bed beneath her forever stained.

But lying across her throat was something he'd never seen before. A single scarlet ribbon, torn and frayed, was draped across the gory wound, almost gently. Definitely placed there on purpose.

He stood there, frowning down at her body for a long time and finally, Brett, standing to the side with his arms crossed, cleared his throat.

"Look, dude, could you hurry it along? Kinda got a crime scene to work here."

Jane's eyes moved up to Brett's face and Lisbon could almost hear the smartass retort on the tip of his tongue as his eyes narrowed at him, but he said nothing. He straightened up, casting one more fleeting glance at the smiley face before turning to her.

"This isn't Red John." He said matter-of-factly.

Brett scoffed, shaking his head. "It never seems to be, does it?"

"Not when you're here, no. I wonder why that is?" Jane frowned at him curiously, tilting his head.

Brett scowled and muttered under his breath angrily.

Lisbon sighed, "Looks like Red John to me."

"Yes, it does. It looks very much like Red John. The wounds on the body are almost identical, so it's someone who knows a fair bit about him and can duplicate it, but it's not Red John."

"So says you." Brett muttered, glaring at him.

Jane's jaw tightened imperceptibly and he turned his gaze back to the tech. "Yes, so says I. She's got a ribbon lying across her throat. It was put there deliberately and with care. It's a touch of the real killer's own… finesse. Their message, if you will. Red John's never done that before and why would he start now? I'm telling you this is nothing more than a clever copycat."

"A ribbon? You think this isn't Red John because of a ribbon?"

"Yes. It's not Red John's style… his MO, as you call it. He didn't do this."

Lisbon frowned, pressing her lips together. "He's done things like this before, Jane. Added details."

"When it's personal." Jane's voice was tight. "But there's nothing about this woman that breaks the pattern. She's his type, this is how he kills. This isn't personal for him, he didn't do this."

Lisbon studied him, her green eyes sharp as knives. He still looked a bit crazy, his hair was a mess and his eyes were a bit wild, but he was serious. And she had to admit, he knew Red John better than anyone else. Definitely better than Brett the forensic tech and better than she herself.

"Alright… We'll see. Let's wait for the autopsy reports and forensics to make any judgments, alright?"

"This isn't Red John." Jane insisted, shaking his head.

Lisbon sighed, "Come on, let's go. We'll talk to the boyfriend and see what he has to say." She turned to leave and nearly ran right into the young man in question as he started to enter the room. She nearly toppled over, but thankfully righted herself.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the young man apologized, "I didn't mean to… are you alright?" He continued apologizing; looking flustered and upset as she brushed her hair back out of her face. Before she could say anything, Jane was at her side.

"You're the boyfriend?" he asked, tilting his head and studying him.

"Uh, y-yes. I'm Reid, uh, D-Dr. Spencer Reid." He stuttered and took a deep breath, steading himself before continuing. "I'm Reid." He swallowed and managed to nod.

Jane smiled at him, "Just the man I wanted to talk to. Come with me." He didn't wait for a response, he grabbed Reid's arm and dragged him off down the hall, confusion flicking across the younger man's face as he hurried along beside him.

Lisbon sighed, "Jane!" she growled after them and turned briefly back to her team. "Van Pelt, head to the LAPD, get us set up. Rigsby, Cho, you two stay and talk to the coroner and forensics when they're finished with their preliminary findings, alright?"

She didn't wait for a response, hurrying after Jane as he tugged the young man down farther down the hall.

**~/.\~**

Jane led him to a study down the hall, pulling the door open and motioning for him to enter ahead of him. Reid eyed the man curiously, confused as he stepped inside and turned back to face him.

"I'm Patrick Jane." He introduced himself, his eyes searching Reid's face. "You were Lila's boyfriend, yes?"

Reid's eyes shifted to the floor for a moment and he nodded. "I am… I was." He corrected him and looked back up at Jane.

"How long had you been dating?" Jane scrutinized the young man's face, "You aren't living together so it couldn't have been very long."

"We've only been together for a couple of months, romantically. Tomorrow would be two months and two weeks exactly." Reid's voice shook and he took a breath. "We met a few years ago."

"Why'd it take so long for you two to get together?" Jane raised a brow curiously.

"I live in Virginia." Reid explained, "We talked on the phone for a while, texted sometimes, but until a couple of months ago, when I came back to LA for work, I hadn't seen her again." He shifted and frowned. "We've been flying back and forth since then."

"Long distance." Jane frowned, "Three thousand miles between California and Virginia and you two managed to last two months."

"Yes, we did." Reid frowned, "What's your point?"

"Oh no point, just an observation." Jane tilted his head, studying Reid. "You said you were in LA for work…" he looked him up and down, "You're law enforcement?"

"I… yes." Reid looked surprised. "FBI. How did you know?"

Jane smiled, "Maybe I'll tell you sometime, Doctor."

He turned, still smiling as Lisbon pulled the door open, an angry frown on her face, and entered the room. "Jane, when I said we were going to talk to him I didn't mean for you to drag him away."

"Sorry, Lisbon, it had to be done. I thought Dr. Reid here wouldn't want to be questioned outside of the bedroom where his girlfriend was murdered." Jane explained turning back to Reid, he stared him right in the eye. "Did you kill Lila?"

"What?" Reid blinked, confused and shocked by the sudden question. "No, I… No." he shook his head.

"Hmm." Jane frowned, "What kind of doctor are you, Dr. Reid of the FBI?"

"FBI?" Lisbon frowned, "You're FBI?"

Reid nodded, "I'm a profiler, in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, in Quantico."

"LAPD didn't mention that." Lisbon frowned thoughtfully.

Before Reid could speak again, Jane asked again, "What kind of doctor are you?"

"I'm not a medical doctor." Reid answered, shaking his head. "I have three PhDs, in, um, Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering."

Jane smiled, "Well that explains it."

"Explains what?" Lisbon frowned, raising a brow at her consultant as Reid watched them confusedly.

"Why he isn't all creepy and cold. But he's not a real doctor, so he's not all doctor-y like the others." He smiled.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Dr. Reid, he's just… a pain in the ass. I'm Agent Lisbon, CBI. Can I ask you a few questions, if it's convenient?"

Reid nodded, pressing his lips together and his eyes got sad again. "Of course."

"You flew in from Quantico to visit Lila?" she asked.

"Yes, I arrived here at 1:43 P.M.; I was late because the flight was delayed. I... I went to the door and it was unlocked. Lila never leaves the door unlocked."

"Do you have a key?"

"No, I don't have my own key. Lila was going to give me one when I got here." His voice broke and he blinked back tears. "I… I didn't bring my service revolver with me on the plane - it was supposed to be my weekend off - so I had to grab an umbrella from the stand by the door. I went upstairs and… her door was closed."

He tapered off and Jane eyed him sadly, looking away and pushing down emotions of his own and fighting back a pang of pain in his chest as painful flashbacks hit him.

"Did you see or hear anything when you arrived? Anything out of place?" Lisbon asked gently.

Reid shook his head. "No. Nothing except the door being unlocked, all the lights off." He said. "I recognized the face on the wall…" he trailed off, frowning.

"You did?"

He nodded, "Red John. Serial killer. He's been mostly dormant for almost four years, but he's been active occasionally. I haven't read the case file, but the BAU does keep their eyes on these sorts of cases." His voice cracked again. "We've never been invited in on the case; we don't interfere unless it becomes federal."

"Of course." Lisbon nodded, frowning. "How long were you and Lila together?"

"Two months." Jane answered for him. "I already asked him that. Um, Dr. Reid, did Lila mention anything strange? Anyone threatening her lately?"

Reid shook his head, "No, but…" he frowned.

Jane raised a brow, "But?"

"She did call me out of nowhere to ask me to come this weekend. She wouldn't say what it was over the phone, just that it was important and she needed to see me." Reid told them.

"She said nothing about why?" Lisbon asked skeptically.

"No." Reid shook his head, sadness and a touch of guilt flickering in his hazel eyes. "She didn't say anything."

Jane studied Reid's face, "Well, thank you, Doctor. I'm sure Agent Lisbon will be in touch…"

"Wait," Reid frowned, "When I was coming up the stairs… I heard you saying this wasn't Red John…"

"It's not."

"We don't know that yet." Lisbon sighed, shaking her head. "We're not sure; it looks like Red John –"

"But it isn't." Jane cut her off. "Someone worked very hard to make this look like Red John, but it isn't."

"Why would someone do that?" Reid frowned.

"We don't know that they did." Lisbon said, frowning at Jane, "We'll be in touch, Dr. Reid. Thank you for your time." She offered him a smile, taking Jane by the arm and pulling him out of the room.

"See you around, Doc!" Jane called over his shoulder, smiling at the young man as they left him standing there, confused.

**~/.\~**

Lisbon dragged Jane back down the hall angrily, glaring at him.

"What?" Jane asked innocently.

Lisbon sighed, "Jane, we don't know that this isn't Red John."

"It's not." Jane shook his head adamantly.

She clenched her jaw, "But if it isn't, _he _is our next number one suspect."

"Dr. Reid?" Jane looked at her like she was crazy. "Oh please, he's not a killer. There's no way he did this."

"You sound so sure." Lisbon sighed.

"I am. I asked him if he did and he said he didn't and I believe him. He's a terrible liar, his eyes give away everything."

"You only talked to him for a couple of minutes!"

"Exactly. And in a couple of minutes, I learned quite a lot. He's young, awkward, shy and almost certainly a certified genius. Probably grew up in a one parent house, no siblings. And in his case, I'd say it was his mother he lived with. He's an FBI agent, but he's not hardened and gruff like a lot of them are, which means he's compassionate and capable of empathy. And he really and truly cared for Lila Archer. I can't say for certain that it was love, but he'd never do anything to hurt her or any other human being for that matter. He's not capable of it."

Lisbon sighed, shaking her head. "Jane, you said yourself, this was done by someone who knows Red John. He's a criminal profiler, he admitted to knowing the case. He found the body. He had means and opportunity."

"Maybe, but what's his, uh… motive? Doesn't have one of those, does he?" Jane said. "I'm telling you Lisbon, this was done by someone close to her. Someone she knew. It wasn't Spencer Reid and it wasn't Red John. You're wasting your time looking into either of them."

Lisbon sighed, "Jane that's what real police do. We can't all go with assumptions based on loose speculation."

"He didn't do it."

"Then the evidence will tell us that." Lisbon said, turning and heading back down the stairs.

"You're wasting your time."

"That's my job."

"Your job is to waste your time?" Jane raised a brow, grinning. "I thought it was to catch bad guys."

"Right now, it feels more like my job is babysitting you." Lisbon muttered, shaking her head as Jane followed her downstairs, grinning the entire time.

**~/.\~**

Reid stared after them as they left, not quite sure how to react. He'd never seen an interview go quite like that one. He sighed heavily, looking around the study for a moment and taking a seat in one of the stuffed leather chairs. He could feel the tears, just under his eyes, threatening to overflow. He couldn't take this. Everything seemed to be wrong and he couldn't think of anything that would ever make it right again.

For the first time in his life, Spencer Reid thought that maybe he really could use a drink. Better a drink than drugs, he thought bitterly. He shook those thoughts from his mind and nearly jumped a foot in the air when his cell phone started buzzing in his pocket.

He fumbled for it and took a moment to compose himself again, silently cursing the stupid thing for interrupting his first real time to really grieve.

"Hello?"

_"Reid?" _Morgan's voice was on the other end of the phone, solid and real and comforting for some strange reason. _"I got your message, kid. What's going on? What happened?"_

Reid swallowed, "I… I don't know, Morgan I… Lila's dead." His voice cracked and he felt the sobs starting to come back again, his voice quavering as he held them off for just a little longer.

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Morgan spoke again. _"Reid I'm sorry, man, I… don't know what to say. …What happened?"_

Reid almost smiled, looking down for a moment, "She… she was murdered. It looks like a serial killer, Red John."

_"…That name sounds familiar."_

Reid laughed, a sad sound laugh, "We've looked into him before, Morgan. A couple years ago, Strauss gave Hotch the file, remember? Wanted us to be familiar with the developments in case we could off some assistance."

_"Right, right… I… Man, I'm sorry."_

Reid blinked back the tears again, a few managing to spill over this time. He scrubbed at them angrily and sighed. "Not your fault." He said quietly. "…Apparently it might not be Red John, it might be a copycat."

_"Copycat? What do you mean?"_

Reid swallowed, "One of the CBI agents, Jane was his name. He doesn't think it's Red John, apparently." His voice shook and he fought to steady it.

_"Why not?"_

"I'm not sure. …But he seems certain." Reid took another deep breath. "I… I'm going to stay out here until the investigation is finished, at least. I… I just… I don't know." He choked another sob and more tears fell. He scrubbed at them and closed his eyes.

Morgan was silent for a moment. _"I'll be there tomorrow morning."_

"No, Morgan, I –"

_"No, I'll be there. I'm not gonna let you go through this alone. Tomorrow morning."_

Reid swallowed and nodded. "Fine, I guess. I… I'm going to check into a hotel. I can't stay here tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

_"Bright and early." _Morgan said, _"Be careful, kid."_

Reid smiled faintly as he hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket, his eyes staring at nothing in particular as he took a deep breath and the tears finally fell free, cascading down his face as the sobs came for the first time. He put his head in his hands and let all the emotions catch up to him for the first time, his shoulders shaking as the sun shone in brightly from the windows.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Well… that was a much longer chapter ;) I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. Jane and Reid meeting was a bit harder to write than I figured…**

**Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please let me know what y'all think!**

**Reviews are always welcome, any comments, criticisms and opinions are always appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks so much to lovesreidforever, SlasherrGirl, penguincrazy, Avenacookie, msdarque, joniskpelare, CrayonsPink and kayamira for the reviews! And thanks to everyone who added this to alerts as well! It really means a lot to me guys, please keep it up!**

**So, onto chapter three now… Yay X)**

**Also, to let everyone know: as of now, I'm really not sure how much of the BAU is going to be involved. I may bring the whole team in; I may bring only a few members in. We shall see…**

**Please review! Your feedback is what drives me to write faster! I appreciate all comments, criticisms, theories and ideas!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Three**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

_"Have you got anything for me, Agent Lisbon?" _Hightower asked over the phone as Lisbon and Jane pulled into a large building.

"Nothing yet." Lisbon sighed, shifting the phone from her right ear to her left as she unbuckled her belt and stepped out of the car. It was getting dark out already. Van Pelt, Rigsby and Cho had already called it a day and were waiting for them at a small restaurant a few blocks away, but Lisbon wanted to get this one interview out of the way before joining them and Jane, of course, insisted on coming along.

"Everything's been sent to the lab to be analyzed. We talked to the boyfriend… So far, it looks like a text book Red John case."

_"What does Jane think?"_ Hightower's voice was searching and Lisbon silently cursed the blond man walking merrily along beside her for having to make things difficult. Even Hightower was beginning to pick up on his hunches and theories.

"Well…" she hesitated, glancing at him as they pushed the glass doors of the building open and stepped gratefully into the air-conditioned lobby. "He's being more… open minded."

_"Meaning he doesn't think it's him."_

She sighed, "Exactly."

_"Did he happen to mention _why _he doesn't believe it's Red John?" _the Director asked curiously. Lisbon could almost see the other woman sitting in her chair behind her desk, her keen brown eyes focused on a file beneath her hands, pen poised to do work while her mind was only interested in this one case.

"A ribbon."

_"A ribbon?"_

"We found a red ribbon on Lila's throat… Red John's never done that before and Jane thinks that it was some calling-card from the real killer. We're not making any conclusions until all of the evidence is in but… he does make sense."

"I always do." Jane grinned beside her as they stood by the desk, the receptionist looking annoyed and impatient as Lisbon ignored her and continued her conversation with Hightower.

"You do not." Lisbon told him, shaking her head. "Anyway… He could be right about this."

"I am right."

"Shut up." Lisbon frowned at him, her green eyes narrowed.

_"If he is right, do you have any other suspects?" _Hightower asked. Lisbon could tell that skeptical as she was, Hightower put more stock in Jane's theory than she did. She wondered why that made her happy, but decided she didn't care enough to figure out at the moment.

"Yeah, the boyfriend, Spencer Reid. He discovered the body. He's a criminal profiler in the FBI, he admitted to knowing about the case and he had opportunity."

_"Motive?"_

Lisbon sighed, "None that I can see. Yet. And we're not even sure if it's Red John or not."

"It's not." Jane said with confidence. Lisbon narrowed her eyes at him.

"Alright, seriously, Jane, stop it. I'm trying to talk."

"But you're not being accurate. We have no suspects as of now, Lisbon. It wasn't Red John and it wasn't Dr. Reid." Jane insisted.

Lisbon glared at him, "So says you."

"Exactly. And I'm hardly ever wrong."

She rolled her eyes, "We'll keep you posted, Ma'am."

_"See that you do. Brenda's doing what she can to keep the media at bay for now, but you're going to have to give them something sooner or later."_

Lisbon sighed. She sincerely hated dealing with press. "I know. I'll give Brenda something to give them whenever we have anything useful." She slipped the phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath before turning to face the annoyed receptionist.

"Can I help you?" the young woman's voice snapped with an edge and Lisbon pressed her lips together. She was too tied to deal with this crap.

"Yes." She pulled out her bag and flashed it in the woman's face. "I'm Agent Lisbon, with the CBI. I need to speak to Celia Jorge."

"Do you have an appointment?" the woman asked, turning her attention to the book open in front of her.

Lisbon blinked, thrown completely by that ridiculous question. "No, I don't. I'm an Agent with the California Bureau of Investigation. I need to speak to her about a murder investigation."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't speak to Miss Jorge without an appointment, she's incredibly busy." The young woman sounded bored out of her mind as she responded, flipping the pen in her hand absently and not looking up at Lisbon.

Jane grinned wide as Lisbon's jaw tightened. He loved it when she got angry, at least when it was at someone other than him.

Her green eyes flashed and she slammed her badge down on the counter with a loud bang. "It's Senior Agent Lisbon." She ground through her teeth. "And I need to speak with Miss Jorge right now regarding the homicide of one of her clients. If you do not let me speak to her, I will arrest you for obstruction. Is that clear enough?"

The young woman's eyes got wide and she nodded, "Alright, just… give me a moment." She picked up her phone and dialed a number quickly, glancing nervously at Lisbon for a moment before speaking quickly on the other end.

Jane was grinning the entire time and Lisbon frowned, "What?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Nothing." He said evasively. "I just love when you get all Senior Agent-y."

"Senior Agent-y?" Lisbon raised a brow, shaking her head at the man. "Jane…" she sighed and didn't finish as the young woman stood and led them down a hall to Celia Jorge's office.

It was a large room, windows overlooking the bright, busy lights of the LA nightlife. Expensive painting and sculptures decorated an obviously well designed office. Sitting behind a desk was a red headed woman in an expensive suit, talking on the phone in quick, clipped sentences. Jane looked around the space curiously, immediately making his way over to the bookcase and skimming over the titles, humming in interest.

Celia hung up the phone and folded her hands together, looking up at them and smiling kindly. "Can I help you?" she asked curiously.

"I'm Teresa Lisbon, this is Patrick Jane." Lisbon motioned to Jane as she took a seat across from Celia. "We're from the CBI… we need to ask you some questions about Lila."

The woman's face fell and she nodded sadly, "Of course, of course. What can I do for you?"

"Was there anyone threatening her lately? Any threatening messages, peeping toms? Anything like that?"

"Oh no." Celia shook her head. "Nothing. She got the usual fan mail, of course, nothing that stood out." She assured them.

Lisbon frowned, looking toward Jane, who didn't seem even remotely interested in the conversation as he looked over the bookcase.

"Did she mention why she was asking her boyfriend to come this weekend?"

"Spencer? No… I had no idea he was going to be in town actually." Celia frowned.

"Were there any problems in the relationship?" Lisbon asked, at which point Jane made a noise but otherwise didn't seem to have heard anything that was being said.

"Of course not. They were getting along fine… As a matter of fact I was worried that she would decide to move to Virginia to be closer to him." Celia admitted. "There's no way he's leaving his job." She smiled faintly and glanced down at her watch.

"Why are you asking about Spencer anyway? I thought that killer, Red John did this?"

"Oh, no he didn't." Jane spoke for the first time, turning around and grinning at her.

"Oh?"

"We don't know that for sure." Lisbon narrowed her eyes at the consultant. "We're just trying to get all the facts."

"I see…" Celia frowned. "Well it couldn't have been Spencer, that boy was head-over-heels for Lila." She glanced at her watch again as her phone buzzed.

"I'm sorry, Agent Lisbon… I really have to go. Could we do this in the morning?" Celia asked pleadingly.

Lisbon sighed, taking a moment before responding. "Of course, Miss Jorge. We're set up at the LAPD."

"Thank you," Celia stood and led them toward the door, "I'm sorry I –"

"Did you kill Lila?" Jane asked suddenly, tilting his head and catching the woman's eyes as she blinked, startled by the question.

"I… no. Of course I didn't!"

"Hm." Jane looked thoughtful before giving her a disarming grin and following Lisbon down the hall. "Interesting. Thank you!"

**~/.\~**

Reid woke up the next morning early. He wasn't even sure that he'd been to sleep at all really… It was barely after 6:30 and he just couldn't stand lying there in the bed anymore. It felt so wrong to be sitting around doing nothing when Lila's killer was out there, free. He couldn't stand that thought…

His throat closed up at the thought of Lila and he shut his eyes, running his hand wearily over his face before forcing himself up and out of the bed and grabbing clothes from the open luggage that sat at the foot of the bed.

He felt like he was on autopilot as he showered and got ready for the day, checking his cell phone and seeing several missed called from Garcia and JJ. A few from Morgan and Prentiss and two each from Hotch and Rossi… he sighed and shoved the phone back into his pocket. Morgan would be arriving soon and they'd go down to the precinct and find out what they could about the case so far; he didn't feel like dealing with the rest of team and their worrying.

His tired eyes fell on the empty glass on the table by the bed… He'd only had a couple of drinks the night before but it was more than what he normally had. Hell, he didn't normally drink at all, but he'd needed the escape and drinking was safer than the alternative. Drinking didn't carry the risk. He scrubbed at his eyes and considered pouring another glass… It was way too early to be drinking but he didn't know what else he was supposed to do.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and fumbled around through his suitcase before pulling out one of the two only photos he carried with him. It was a picture of him and Lila on one of their first real dates, outside of some club she had dragged him to. A faint smile touched his lips as he traced a finger over her smiling face, her arms wrapped around him.

It had been hard to believe that she was really interested in him, but the way her eyes sparkled when they were together, the sincerity in her voice, the way she held him, kissed him, loved him… It left no doubt in his mind. And that made this loss all the more painful. She had been the first really good thing to happen in his life in a long, long time and suddenly and viciously she was taken away. It wasn't fair.

His fingers tightened around the edges of the photograph and tears started to slip down his face as he stared down at the smiling woman he had cared for. Maybe even loved… Now he'd never know what could have been. What they could have had… And that tore him to pieces inside.

His buzzing phone once again yanked him out of the horrible, twisted and painful thoughts of the previous day and he dug it out of his pocket. "Reid." He answered, his voice tight and strained with the effort of holding back tears.

_"Dr. Reid? This is Patrick Jane, we talked yesterday?"_

Reid frowned and scrubbed at the tears absently, "Uh, yes. I remember. What is it? Did something happen?"

_"Nothing yet. I just wanted to speak to you, I figured you'd be up already. There's a coffee place not far from that hotel you're staying at. Meet me there in twenty minutes?"_

Reid was confused, his brows knitting together. "I… um… sure, ok. What's this about?"

_"I'll tell you when you get here, Doctor." _Jane assured him. _"Twenty minutes."_

"Ok." Reid nodded, still confused as he put the phone back in his pocket. He hardly had time to really consider what was going on when there was a knock at his hotel door and he went to answer it, peering through the peephole and seeing Derek Morgan standing there, still holding his own overnight bag.

He let out a breath and took a second to pull himself back together before opening the door and frowning as he spotted the dark haired woman behind him.

"Prentiss? What are you doing here?"

"Morgan told me what happened. You didn't really think I'd let you be alone right now, did you?" she offered her friend a sad smile and shrugged.

Reid's eyes went back to Morgan and the older man just shrugged, "Sorry, man. I wasn't about to try and stop her."

He smiled, laughing, though the sound was a bit empty. "Fine, I… thank you, both of you."

"Not a problem, kid." Morgan told him. "We had vacation time to take and you don't need to be alone right now."

He nodded, licking his lips nervously. "No… I guess not." He agreed. "I just… I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Tears started to blur his vision again and the two agents outside glanced at each other worriedly.

"It's alright, Reid. You don't have to know right now." Prentiss said quietly. "We'll help you figure this out and find who did this, alright?"

He nodded, swallowing. "Yeah… I… I'm supposed to meet one of the agents in twenty minutes at a coffee spot around the corner. I'm… I'm not sure what's going on yet, but it sounded important."

"We'll go with you." Morgan said immediately. "Give us a couple minutes to get out stuff in our rooms and we'll be ready."

Reid took another breath to steady his shaking nerves and nodded, "Alright…"

They offered their young friend soft, sad smiles and turned to go to their rooms down the hall.

"You should probably call Garcia soon, Pretty Boy." Morgan added as they were leaving. "She's been trying to get ahold of you since she heard. Unless you want her to show up here, I'd let her know what's going on."

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: *frustration***

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I had a bit of writer's block. Ugh… I worked my way through it… I hope it's alright! Let me know guys!**

**Please review, your opinions, comments, suggestions and ideas mean the world to me guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks so much to penguincrazy, msdarque, Gone2Far, SlasherrGirl, Avenacookie, joniskpelare, Serpa. Sas, Artemis Sparks and rya13 for the reviews! And thanks to everyone who added this to alerts and favorites as well ;) I really appreciate the support and feedback guys! It means a lot!**

**And now… onto chapter four! Yayz ;) **

**So… Jane and Reid (and Prentiss and Morgan) are going to meet for a little chat, exciting huh? Yep, I'm delusional and deranged but that has nothing to do w/this…**

**Please review! I always appreciate feedback of all kinds!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Four**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Prentiss and Morgan were watching Reid carefully as they entered the small, bustling little coffee shop. He seemed together enough, but they knew the young man and they knew that he was better at concealing emotional turmoil than he sometimes let on. Bad things happened to him all the time and he'd gotten good at hiding his own personal demons over the years… They just hoped that he wasn't shoving all of his grief and pain inwards because that never led anyone anywhere good.

"Do you see him?" Prentiss asked, looking around the shop. There weren't any free tables, most of them taken up by young businessmen and women working away on laptops, trying to make a name for themselves, chattering away on cell phones.

Reid's eyes skimmed the shop and he nodded, "Right over there." He pointed to a blond man grinning and waving at him, sitting at a small table near a window in the corner, a coffee sitting in front of one of the empty seats, a cup of tea between the fingers of his free hand.

They made their way toward him and he smiled brightly, "Dr. Reid, you brought friends… colleagues of yours, I presume."

"Um, yes. This is Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan." Reid introduced them as they took their seats. "How did you know they work with me?"

"Well they're both wearing their guns." Jane motioned to the guns concealed at the agents' hips, "And of course they both sort of scream 'cop', don't they?" A small smile twitched on his lips and he pointed to the coffee.

"I bought you a coffee, if I'd known you were bringing your friends I would've ordered them something too, but –"

"Don't worry about it." Morgan shook his head. "We're fine." A faint smile ghosted his lips and he looked to Reid, "Hope they got it sweet enough for boy genius here."

Reid rolled his eyes and fiddled with the lid on the cup before clearing his throat. "You, uh, you said you wanted to talk to me about something, Agent Jane."

"Oh, I'm not an agent." Jane shook his head, "No gun, see." He pushed his jacket back to reveal the fact that he indeed wore no weapon at his hip. "I'm a consultant."

"A consultant?" Prentiss raised a brow. "What exactly do you do?"

Jane smiled a bit, "Read minds. Catch killers. Bring justice to those who deserve it. You know, that sort of thing."

"Read minds?" Morgan looked skeptical. "You're one of those psychics who help cops?"

"No. There's no such thing as psychics." Jane shrugged. "I observe people. It's easy enough to tell what someone is thinking if you study their behavior."

"You profile them." Reid nodded, "Makes sense. Explains why you're so certain Red John didn't kill Lila."

"Yes, it does." Jane nodded. "Red John doesn't leave ribbons behind. He kills his victims, paints the smiley face, sets the stage for the scene to be discovered and he leaves. No extra finesse, no ribbon. There's no need. And he only breaks that pattern if it's personal or something unexpected happens."

"You think it wasn't Red John because a ribbon was left behind?" Prentiss sounded unsure and Jane turned to scrutinize her, her dark eyes fixing themselves on his for a long moment. He was briefly reminded of Lisbon, the way she stared so intensely. But of course, Prentiss was much taller than Lisbon and her eyes were dark, almost black, not green.

"Yes I do." Jane nodded seriously. "He doesn't make mistakes, so this isn't a mistake. He doesn't leave ribbons behind, it's not Red John."

"It does make sense." Morgan said, "If he's never done it before, he likely wouldn't change things now. How long has he been killing?"

"Since 1998." Jane answered, his voice a bit tighter. Reid frowned and narrowed his eyes, watching as Jane's pulse quickened ever so slightly and his entire demeanor seemed to change, his eyes a bit more intense, his voice harsher, throat tighter. "He's killed 20 people, including four CBI agents less than a year ago through a woman inside and then he killed her while she was in custody."

"A man with reach." Prentiss murmured.

"Yes, exactly. Reach and influence somewhere."

"Twenty victims from 1998 to now? That's a long stretch of time." Morgan murmured. "Not impatient, irrational and no sign of devolution. Very controlled."

"Very." Jane's voice was still tight and Reid frowned, still silent and watching the blond man with keen, observant eyes. "But this wasn't him. I think it was someone close to Lila who worked very, very hard to make it seem like it was Red John, but they couldn't resist adding their own little touch, their own secret message, if you will. The real killer is someone Lila knew, someone she likely trusted. And someone you knew too, Dr. Reid."

Reid blinked, "Me?"

"Yes. You knew Lila's friends, didn't you?"

"Of course, but… Lila, she… she didn't really have a lot of friends, socially. She was either working or resting most of the time. Her agent, Celia, a few actors from her show and the couple of movies she's made, that's it really. No family, nothing like that."

"She's been in movies?" Jane raised a brow. "Which movies?"

Reid looked confused, "Um… _Lilith's Rose _and _Redemption for the Devil_. _Lilith's Rose_ was a made-for-TV thing she did a few years ago and _Redemption for the Devil _actually just finished shooting about a month ago, it hasn't even been released yet."

"Huh… you wouldn't happen to know the plot of either of the movies, would you?"

"_Lilith's Rose _was a romantic-drama about a woman who left her husband when he cheated on her and later finds out he'd dying of cancer and forgives him and they eventually get back together. I… I haven't seen the entire movie. And all I know about _Redemption for the Devil _is what Lila told me, which wasn't much. She was playing a woman named Tara Morn… apparently she snaps and kills her husband and someone else was convicted and years later some cop starts looking into things and finds out the truth. It…" he swallowed and looked down at the coffee cup between his fingers. "She said it was going to be her 'big break', really get her name out there, you know?"

Tears welled up in his eyes and he forced a sob back down his throat. Prentiss and Morgan eyed him sadly and Prentiss gently rubbed his hand, not knowing exactly what to say at a time like this one.

Jane watched the young man and looked down, a flitter of guilt crossing his mind as he swallowed and looked back up. "Interesting." He mused. "I'd certainly love to see it…" Morgan and Prentiss gave him shocked looks but he brushed them off. "Dr. Reid, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Lila? Anyone at all?"

"She… when we met, the first time, I was working a case and she was being stalked. As far as I know, she's still in prison but Lila had been acting paranoid lately. She wouldn't say why, but when she called I knew something was wrong. Something happened and it scared her."

Reid grimaced and his grip on the cup grew tighter. "If I'd just gotten there sooner…"

"If you'd gotten there sooner it's likely the killer would've just killed you both." Jane told him. "I mean, you said you didn't have your gun and you… well, honestly, you don't look like you could've very well fought them off yourself."

"Watch it, man." Morgan frowned at him but Reid waved it off, shrugging and smiling a bitter, sad smile.

"True… but at least I could've tried." His eyes got distant. "Trying and failing is better than never trying at all."

Jane smiled, nodding. "Tell me something, Doctor, if you were to find yourself in the position to do so, would you kill whoever killed Lila?"

Reid's eyes snapped to Jane's face and he studied him again, hazel eyes delving deep into blue ones for a long, somewhat tense moment as Morgan and Prentiss shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Yes, I would. And falling short of that, I'll do everything and anything I can to make sure he suffers for this."

Jane nodded, looking thoughtful for a long moment.

Reid brushed hair out of his face and took a breath, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious is all. Revenge… I… I hear it's unhealthy."

Reid pursed his lips, "Maybe, but that doesn't stop you, does it?" he asked. His voice was quiet and gentle but Jane looked surprised, like Reid had just slapped him in the face.

"Wh-"

"Red John murdered someone close to you." Reid said slowly, speaking carefully. "Every time you mention him your pulse quickens, you start to sweat a bit, your pupils dilate and your voice hardens."

Jane's smile was as bitter and sad as Reid's had been. "You're very good." He said quietly. "I can see why you're a profiler now."

He cleared his throat and his fingers played with the rim of the tea cup for a moment, "Yes, Red John did kill someone close to me. He murdered my wife and child almost eight years ago."

Reid's eyes softened, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Jane's voice was tight, but he shrugged and did his best to look nonchalant. "It's my fault not yours. And I will find him and I will kill him eventually. It's only a matter of time."

"Red John killed your wife _and _child?" Morgan frowned, looking confused.

"Yes, he did." Jane nodded, staring into his tea rather than look up at the agents. "Because I said some things I shouldn't have about him on television and he decided it was necessary to punish me."

"It was personal." Reid's voice was still quiet. "You know, Mr. Jane, no one can truly predict how a psychopathic mind will react to something being said about them in the media. We take risks as profilers every time we talk to press about UnSubs because we could be encouraging them to kill more, to become more brazen, more violent. We never know. You can't blame yourself for how he reacted to whatever you said."

Jane shook his head. "I can. It was my fault. But right now, I'm trying to find out who killed Lila, so… I'm going to need you to do something for me, Dr. Reid."

Reid sighed, watching the man who was clearly suffering just as much, if not more than he was. He nodded, "Anything you need."

"Any copy you can get of _Lilith's Rose_ and whoever was in it or auditioned for it and a copy of the script for _Redemption for the Devil _and a list of everyone who worked on it and auditioned for it."

"Why do you need that?" Prentiss frowned, confused.

"I have a theory." Jane said simply. "But I'm not sure yet and I need to confirm it. So… would you mind?"

"I can try but I doubt I could get a copy of the script…"

"What about Lila's copy?"

Reid blinked, nodding slowly. "She may have kept it in the house. I could check."

"Excellent." Jane grinned. "Thank you for meeting with me, Doctor. Agents." He nodded to Morgan and Prentiss as he stood, digging his cell phone out of his pocket quickly and glancing at the screen. "Duty calls." He shrugged as he picked up his jacket. "I'll be in touch."

**~/.\~**

"Miss Jorge, thank you for coming in this morning." Van Pelt and Lisbon sat down across from the woman at a table in the bullpen in the LAPD.

"Of course," Celia nodded with a smile. "It's the least I could do. I'm so sorry for running out on you last night, Agent Lisbon, a client of mine needed my help and I had to be there."

"Not a problem, ma'am." Lisbon said easily. She felt much better after a long and for once peaceful night's sleep. Though the absence of Jane was worrying, she pushed it from her mind and focused on talking to Celia. "We just have a few more questions about Lila."

"Anything you need to know."

"She was doing pretty well as an actress, correct?"

"Yes, she was." Celia nodded. "Her show just ended its fourth season and was picked up for a fifth. She's even made a couple of movies. She was definitely moving up career-wise."

Lisbon nodded, "We looked into her past, she's been in a couple of other smaller television shows before, correct?"

"Yes, they lasted a season or two generally; there wasn't a lot of viewer interest." Celia explained. "But it was a good start to her career. We were actually in the process of re-negotiating her contract. She was offered a new movie role last month and it would've interfered with her show, we were in the final processes of working out the new contract. As a matter of fact, we were supposed to go in this afternoon to finish."

"A new movie role?" Van Pelt asked. "What film?"

Celia smiled, "_Crimson Tides_. Shooting was scheduled to start in a month." Her face fell and she sighed. "She was excited, it's the biggest thing she's done so far and coupled with the release of _Redemption for the Devil _she was almost guaranteed to be a house-hold name in no time."

"So she was moving up, probably beat out a lot of other actresses for the role." Lisbon mused. "Was anyone overly upset about it? Angry?"

Celia frowned, "No, not that I can think of. The producer came to me asking me to pitch the idea to Lila, as far as I know, no one else auditioned for the part. You could talk to Harvey Bulkwright, the producer, he may know for sure. Or the casting director."

Lisbon frowned, "What about outside of work? Was there anything odd going on that you could see? Strange phone calls? Notes? Emails? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, like I said last night. Everything was totally normal." Celia insisted. "She got fan mail, the occasional gift but nothing that seemed strange. And believe me, she was always on the lookout for anything strange."

"Why's that?" Van Pelt asked, raising a brow.

Celia sighed, "A few years ago Lila was being stalked. Her stalker killed her agent at the time, two other actresses and very nearly killed Lila. Maggie, I believe Spencer said her name was. Lila didn't talk about it much, but she was very careful about security and Spencer was always just a phone call away if something did happen. Nothing ever did, of course."

Lisbon tilted her head thoughtfully, "A stalker?" she jotted the name Maggie down and made a note to ask Spencer about that later. She started to ask another question when her cell phone buzzed and she sighed. "Excuse me."

She left Van Pelt to finish talking to Celia and stepped into an empty office. "Lisbon."

_"Boss, it's Rigsby. We just finished up with the medical examiner…"_

"Anything useful?" Lisbon asked hopefully, turning to glance out the blinds, watching Van Pelt and Celia.

_"It looks like Jane was right. The cuts were similar to Red John's but according to the ME the weapon used to cut her wasn't the same as what Red John uses. She says it's closer to a butcher knife. Bigger, definitely. And there was no indication that a taser was used, unlike most of Red John's other kills. No ligature marks either. Lila was hit behind the head and was either barely conscious or out cold when she was killed. There aren't any signs of defensive wounds on her body."_

Lisbon shut her eyes. "Damn it." She muttered. "Alright, fine. Listen, we may have something useful. Harvey Bulkwright was producing a new movie that Lila was supposed to be in. He might know something. Find out who else auditioned for the part and if there was any bad blood between Lila and any of the actors. I'll get Van Pelt to send you the address."

_"You got it boss."_

"Great. And have you seen Jane?"

_"Not since last night, why?"_

Lisbon sighed, frowning, "No reason. He's just disappeared again. Call me whenever you have something." Lisbon snapped the phone shut and frowned, staring at the two women sitting at the table across from her for a moment before making her way back to them.

"Miss Jorge, do you happen to have Harvey Bulkwright's address?"

"Yes I do, why?"

"Van Pelt, get it and send it to Cho and Rigsby, alright." Lisbon ordered. "Thank you so much for coming in Miss Jorge, I'm sure you're busy. If we need to speak with you again we'll call you."

Lisbon watched the red headed woman leave before flipping her phone open again and dialing Jane's number.

_"Ah, Lisbon, good morning. You're up awfully late."_

Lisbon shut her eyes and took a breath. "Jane, where are you?"

_"Oh, I was just finishing coffee with the good doctor, actually."_

"You were talking to Dr. Reid?"

_"Yes, I needed a favor. Is it a crime?"_

Lisbon sighed, "No, Jane, it's not a crime. But right now, Dr. Reid hasn't been excluded from our list of suspects, do you understand?"

_"Dr. Reid is innocent and it would save everyone time if you took him off your list of non-existent suspects, Lisbon."_

"Until the I get evidence to the contrary, I can't do that Jane, you know that." She tapped her fingers against the phone and licked her lips. "But… You were probably right about this not being Red John. Autopsy results confirmed it doesn't fit his usual pattern."

_"See, I told you, Lisbon. I'm never wrong." _Jane said, a hint of smugness in his tone. She could almost hear that annoying grin of his on his face.

"Don't start, Jane." Lisbon ground her teeth together. "You need to come in. Now. We've got work to do. Apparently Lila had a stalker a few years ago, we need to find her and see if she's any threat."

_"Oh I doubt that. Dr. Reid said she was still in prison."_

"Oh he did, did he? And how would he know that?"

_"He's an FBI agent, Lisbon." _Jane said, _"He worked the case, it's how they met in the first place. Jeesh, you'd think it was illegal to date a murder victim the way you're going after the kid."_

"I'm not going after anyone, Jane, I'm looking at the facts. Right now, we don't know who did this, but he is a suspect until we can exclude him. Are we clear?"

_"Clear as mud, Lisbon."_ Jane said merrily. _"You go fumbling around blindly, I'll work on finding the killer."_

"Jane…" Lisbon warned. "Get your ass in here now. I'm not kidding."

_"Alright, alright. Calm down. I'm on my way. And I brought you some coffee."_

"They have coffee here at the station."

_"Meh, that's police station coffee. I brought you coffee-house coffee. Much better; you'll thank me for it later."_

"Whatever, just get in here."

_"Your wish is my command, mistress." _Jane chuckled lightly as he hung up and Lisbon shook her head, slipping the phone back into her pocket. She decided that no matter how long she worked with Patrick Jane there was no way he'd ever become less irritating. There was no way to become immune to his very acute skills of annoyingness.

**~/.\~**

Reid, Prentiss and Morgan remained at the table after Jane left, talking animatedly on his cell phone. Morgan and Prentiss exchanged worriedly glances before turning back to Reid, who was staring at the table, his hands folded in front of him, brows creased.

"Reid…" Prentiss leaned forward, "Are you sure you're ok?"

Reid blinked, looking up at her as if just remembering that she was there. "Of course I'm not ok, Prentiss." Reid's voice was harsher than usual and he looked away sharply. "Lila's dead and her killer is still out there, how do you think I am?"

Prentiss sighed, "I'm sorry, Reid I didn't –"

"I'm sorry." Reid interrupted her, his shoulders sagging as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I just… I don't know what to feel right now. I… She's gone and it hurts but I'm so… tangled up. I'm angry and sad and …"

"Guilty?" Morgan supplied quietly. Reid's hazel eyes met his sadly and he nodded without a word. Morgan sighed, "Kid, listen to me, this isn't your fault. Jane's right, if you had shown up on time, you and Lila would both likely be dead. Don't beat yourself up about something you have no control over."

Reid sighed, "I… I know your right, but I just.. I can't help but ask myself 'What if?' you know? She called me two days ago, what if I'd gotten on a plane then instead of waiting?"

"Reid," Prentiss shook her head. "Lila didn't say she was in danger, she just asked you to come because it was important. We were wrapping up that case in Philadelphia then. You had to wait until we got back to leave."

"You know you can't change what happened." Morgan told him. "Asking 'what if?' never gets you anywhere, Reid. The past is the past. What you can do is what you said you were going to do: Find out who did this and make sure that they get punished for it."

Reid nodded absently, his thin fingers wrapped around the foam cup of coffee. He hadn't even taken a sip of it yet, but somehow holding onto the cup made him feel a bit more grounded and less crazy and jumbled up than he truly was and so he gripped it like his life depended on it.

"And, uh…" Prentiss met Morgan's eye again before turning to look at Reid, "Maybe try to not kill the guy, Reid. I mean… I get why you want to but… you'd only end up in prison and Lila wouldn't want that for you."

Reid's eyes were hard as he gazed back at Prentiss and for the first time since she'd met the young genius she felt a bit afraid of him. His eyes were dark and unmoving, angry, bitter, sad and maybe a little bit wild.

"I will do whatever I can to make sure that his pays for what he did to her, Prentiss. Whatever it takes. I'll do it; Lila deserves that much from me."

Prentiss nodded shakily, unsure if she was imaging the dark threat in the usually upbeat, goofy, awkward and sweet young doctor. Her eyes met Morgan's and the message was clear as day: they had a lot more to worry about than just finding Lila's killer and it wasn't going to be easy to stop Reid from doing something stupid if he got the chance.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Wow… Wrote all of that in one sitting. Very much enjoyed writing this chapter, though it got a bit emotional in some places. Very fun to write all the same.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm pleased with it, but I wanna know what y'all think. Let me know, pretty please review! The little blue button says he'll be your best friend if you click on him ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks so much to rya13, joniskpelare, msdarque, SlasherrGirl, GaeBolg, Avenacookie and DragonGate for the awesome reviews! And thanks to everyone who added this to favorites and alerts as well! Your support means a lot to me guys!**

**Sorry this chapter took a little while to be posted, it has not been the best of weeks for me *pouts* I seriously hate college math… and small towns -_-**

**Anyway, back to the story! Again, thank you so much for all of your support!**

**Please let me know what you think!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Five**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Lila's house looked empty and a little sad when the three FBI agents pulled into the driveway. Morgan cut the engine and glanced toward the young man in the passenger seat. His eyes were distant, staring ahead at nothing in particular, his fists clenched tightly in his lap.

"You sure about this Reid?" Morgan asked carefully.

Reid nodded stiffly. "Absolutely. He said he needed the script, I'll get him the script. Anything to find who did this to Lila." He jerked his seatbelt off and climbed out the SUV, slamming the door behind him and hurrying on stiff legs toward the door.

Morgan sighed and looked back at Prentiss in the backseat, "Think he's gonna be alright?"

Prentiss frowned, watching the younger agent for a moment before turning to look at Morgan. "Maybe. I don't know… but right now, it's probably a good idea to not let him go anywhere alone." Her dark eyes went back to linger on Reid and she pressed her lips together. "At least not until this whole thing is sorted out."

Morgan nodded, not sure what to really say or do. Reid was his best friend, his unofficial little brother; it was killing him to see him hurting so badly, but what was worse was seeing that dark glint of anger in Reid's eyes. He'd seen something similar before when they were in Las Vegas working the Riley Jenkins case. That had been about his father… this was even worse and Morgan couldn't honestly say that things would turn out as well this time as they had then.

They got out of the car and quickly caught up to Reid, who was frowning at the lock on the door.

"It's locked." He muttered, his lips tight as he looked thoughtful.

"You don't have a key?" Prentiss looked surprised.

"No. Lila hadn't given me one yet, she was always with me when we were together and most of the time she flew to Quantico instead of me coming here." He looked frustrated.

"What about a spare key out here somewhere?" Morgan suggested, peeking underneath a potted plant by the door.

Reid shook his head, "She thought that was too dangerous. Anyone could find it and get in; after what happened with Maggie she didn't want to risk any-" his voice cracked and he swallowed before continuing. "Anyone getting in."

"I'm sure the CBI has her key, probably still in evidence." Prentiss said, pulling out her cell phone. "We can call and get it released, it's not like this place is a crime scene anymore."

"No, that'll take forever." Reid frowned, "Do either of you have a paperclip or a small pin?"

"Why?" Morgan frowned as Reid fished around in his pockets before looking relieved as he produced a paperclip and unbent the thin metal before crouching beside the lock and slipping it carefully inside.

"Reid what are you doing?" Prentiss stared at him in shock. "That's breaking and entering!"

"No it isn't." Reid ignored her, "Lila is – was," he corrected himself with a barely swallowed sob. "My girlfriend. I have a right to be here, even if I don't have the key. The house isn't a crime scene anymore otherwise there would be a seal on the door."

"I don't like this, kid." Morgan frowned, watching Reid turn the paperclip in the lock carefully, a look of concentration on his face. "This is pushing it."

"Oh like you've never pushed it on a case, Morgan." Reid's voice was a little harsh as he scowled. "Could you please be quiet. I haven't done this in a long time; it's a little tricky."

Prentiss and Morgan sighed, both wishing their sweet genius Dr. Reid would somehow resurface from this angry, sad and bitter Reid they were currently dealing with. They knew he was in pain, but they'd take sobbing and endless tears over anger and bitterness.

A moment later, there was a faint click and Reid stood, pulling the paperclip out of the lock and pushing the door open. He didn't wait for them as he stepped inside and made his way immediately toward the stairs.

Morgan sighed and rushed after, Prentiss following behind, looking around the large house in awe. Lila Archer had certainly had money somewhere…

Reid walked past the bedroom without pausing to glance at the closed door. A horrible, sick feeling washed over him and he was struck by the irrational fear that Lila's body was still in there, organs and blood exposed for the world to see, eyes empty and staring at the ceiling, face frozen in a look of terror. Accusing him of not being there when she needed him. He grimaced and scrubbed at sudden tears before pulling open the door to Lila's study, where Jane and Agent Lisbon had questioned him earlier.

He went straight for her desk and Morgan and Prentiss entered cautiously behind him, looking around the room curiously before turning back to their friend.

Reid was rummaging through the desk, yanking out packs of paper, eyes darting over the words before tossing them aside and pulling more out.

"Need some help?" Prentiss asked, making her way toward the desk.

Reid paused and frowned up at the two of them, "Um… yeah, I guess. You two can look in that table over there. There are two drawers in it. Lila kept her scripts either here or in there."

Morgan and Prentiss nodded and made their way to the table, searching through the papers inside at a much slower pace than Reid was across the room.

Prentiss tugged out a large script and skimmed the cover, "What was the movie called Reid?" she asked, frowning as she flipped through the pages, reading the first few lines.

"_Redemption for the Devil._" Reid answered, pausing to look up at the dark haired agent.

"I've got it."

He stood up, shoving the drawer closed and made his way to them, snatching the script from her and flipping through it quickly before a brief un-Reid-like smile flickered across his face. "Perfect. Thank you." He turned and left the room without another word and the two agents sighed before hurrying after him.

"What now Reid?" Morgan demanded as he went downstairs and right to the living room, kneeling beside the TV and searching the movie titles.

"Now I get _Lilith's Rose _and we call Mr. Jane and tell him we have it."

"I don't see how movies and scripts are going to get you any closer to who did this." Prentiss frowned skeptically.

"Neither do I." Reid told her, finger tracing along the titles as he searched. "But most people don't see how profiling catches bad guys either. I'm being open minded."

Prentiss glanced to Morgan and shook her head. "No, you're being desperate. Reid, let the CBI agents handle this one. We can help them if they don't mind, but –"

"I will do whatever it takes to find this guy, Emily. I don't care what it is." he snatched a movie from the cabinet and stood, staring at his friends with an intense look in his usually warm hazel eyes. "I will find him."

**~/.\~**

"I hate movie sets." Cho muttered as he and Rigsby made their way past cameras and interns and bored actors on their smoke break.

Rigsby turned to look at the shorter man, "Really? All those hot actresses in skimpy clothes wandering around… It's great." He grinned and Cho looked at him skeptically.

"All those hot actresses are on drugs to stay skinny or puking their guts up every hour. And even the ones who aren't are clingy, needy and narcissistic. No thanks."

"Way to stay positive, Cho."

"You only said anything because you're trying not to think about Van Pelt and O'Laughlin." Cho pointed out dryly, looking around through the crowd for someone who could possibly be useful. Maybe one of the nervous interns carrying coffee.

Rigsby carefully got his face to be indifferent – no small feat – before replying. "No I didn't. I'm totally fine with it. O'Laughlin…" he had to pause for a moment to get the words out. "O'Laughlin's a nice guy. Grace deserves to be happy."

Cho looked unconvinced but shook his head and approached a young woman with dark hair, "Ma'am can you tell me where Harvey Bulkwright is?" he asked, flashing his badge. "We need to ask him a few questions."

"Um, sure, he's right over there…." She pointed to a tall, dark haired man talking on a cell phone near a corner of the set. They thanked the girl and made their way toward the man briskly.

"Harvey Bulkwright?" Rigsby asked, flashing his badge. The man looked up, caught sight of the badge and held up his index finger.

"Yeah, yeah, just a minute, I'm busy here, officer."

Rigsby frowned and Cho reached out and snatched the phone from him, snapping it shut. "Now you're not." He said simply, his dry, unmoving tone somewhat aggravated as he stared unblinkingly at the man.

Harvey scowled, "You can't do that!"

"I just did."

He huffed and glared at the man, "I will be calling your superiors, officer."

"It's Agent." Cho told him, still showing no emotion whatsoever. "And we need to talk to you about an actress who was supposed to be in a new movie of yours."

"Lila, yeah." Harvey nodded with a sigh. "Recasting that part is going to set us back weeks."

Rigsby and Cho glanced at each other and frowned, "You don't seem broken up about her death." Rigsby pointed out.

"Well, sure I mean it's sad and all but I've got movies to make, directors, writers, actors, they're all just the people I work with. It's not like I knew the girl all that well, we'd only met a few times."

"Did anyone else audition for the part? Anyone who might've been upset or angry with Lila for getting it? Wanted her out of the way?"

"A few other girls auditioned, but none of them were angry as far as I know." Harvey frowned. "Disappointed maybe, but they were up-and-comers like Lila, they would've landed a new role soon anyway."

"Can we get their names?" Cho asked.

Harvey frowned, "I don't know…"

"Mr. Bulkwright this is a murder investigation." Rigsby said, "It would be nice if you could cooperate with us so we don't have to go through the process of getting a warrant and dragging this all out longer than necessary."

Harvey sighed, "Fine, fine. I'll get my assistant to send you guys the list. Are we done? I've got work to do."

"Almost." Cho said, "Where were you yesterday around noon?"

"In my office at home, looking over script revisions." Harvey said, his eyes narrowing. "Why?"

"Can anyone verify that?" Rigsby asked.

Harvey's lips tightened and he glared at them. "My cat." He snapped angrily. "Can I have my phone back now?"

"Sure." Cho tossed the phone to him and Harvey fumbled to catch it as they hurried away.

"I _will _be calling your boss, Agents!" Harvey snapped after them.

Rigsby and Cho didn't break stride as they made their way back out to their SUV.

"I hate movie sets." Cho muttered.

**~/.\~**

"What did you find out from Dr. Reid?" Lisbon asked, taking a sip from the coffee Jane had brought in while he drank his tea and sat across from her at the table in the LAPD bullpen. Van Pelt was on the computer, looking for Maggie the Obsessed Stalker's full name from LAPD case files.

Jane looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, he loved Lila. I think their relationship would've made it…. If she hadn't been killed that is. He's angry and in pain and wants to find out who did this so he can make them suffer."

"Sound familiar." Lisbon muttered, shaking her head.

Jane's blue eyes went to her face and he paused, nodding. "It does, doesn't it? Anyway… he's got friends who care about him enough to fly across the country and be with him. He's a decent, shy, intelligent kid. FBI agent really doesn't suit him if you ask me, but it certainly says a lot about him that he would dedicate his life to digging into those dark little places in the human mind and understanding them in order to catch criminals and punish them."

"Mhm," Lisbon nodded, "Very noble of him. Assuming he isn't the one who killed Lila."

"He didn't do it."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do, Lisbon. When will you ever tire of doubting me?"

She rolled her eyes, "Did you learn anything useful?"

"I thought that was very useful."

"I meant pertaining to the investigation, not that you like the kid, Jane."

He grinned, "Yes, I did. Lila was recently in two movies… Apparently one of them was going to be her 'big break'. Dr. Reid's going to get me a copy of the script and the other movie."

Lisbon frowned, "Her agent did mention something about a new movie…" she flipped through the notebook in front of her. "Ah, here it is. She just finished shooting _Redemption for the Devil _and was about to start shooting _Crimson Tides_."

"_Crimson Tides_?" Jane frowned, tilting his head. "Did she say what it was about?"

"No, Jane. Lila never got to filming that one. It was supposed to start shooting in a month."

"Interesting."

"I sent Cho and Rigsby to talk to the producer, find out if anyone had a grudge against Lila. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Jane grinned, "See, you don't really believe Dr. Reid did it either."

Lisbon sighed, shaking her head. "I believe what the evidence tells me, Jane. Until the evidence tells me he didn't do it, I can't exclude him."

Jane sighed, about to argue when Van Pelt came up to them and handed her a file. "I found the stalker, Maggie Lowe. She's in a State Mental Facility for the Criminally Insane. She was found unstable during the trial proceedings and given a lighter sentence."

Lisbon flipped the file open and started skimming over it. "Great, thanks. Jane, come with me, we're going to talk to Maggie."

Jane grinned, "Ooh, a conversation with a delusion wacko. I can hardly wait." He practically bounced from his seat, his blue eyes shining with excitement.

Lisbon rolled her eyes and started to leave.

"Uh, there's something else." Van Pelt stopped them, chewing her lips. "While I was digging I found a Life Insurance policy on Lila… Worth a million dollars."

Jane whistled and shook his head.

"Who was the beneficiary?"

"There were two. Celia Jorge and Spencer Reid." Van Pelt frowned. "Lila took the policy out on herself less than month ago."

Lisbon's brows raised and she turned to look at Jane, "Oh, look at that. Motive."

"Uh, wait… that doesn't prove anything. He might not have even known about the policy." Jane insisted, frowning.

"Well we'll find out after we talk to Maggie. Let's go."

Jane sighed and watched Lisbon make her way down the hall before hurrying after her with a confused frown on his face.

**~/.\~**

Reid sank down onto his bed in the hotel room and sighed, staring down at the movie script and video. Prentiss and Morgan had reluctantly left him alone and went back to their rooms but insisted that he call them if he needed anything.

He sat the script and movie to the side and fished his cell phone out of his pocket, staring down at it for a long moment before dialing and holding it to his ear, waiting and staring down at the floor, chewing his lower lip and trying hard not to let the tangling emotions he was feeling overtake him.

_"Dr. Reid what a nice surprise. Did you get what I needed?"_ Jane answered his phone lightly and Reid almost smiled.

"I got the script and a copy of the movie. …I'm at the hotel right now, but I could meet you somewhere if you need me to."

_"No, that won't be necessary."_ Jane assured him. _"I'll be there in a little while. Lisbon has a few questions for you."_

Reid frowned but nodded. "Alright, I'll be here then…." He paused, "What exactly do you think you're going to find in the script anyway?"

_"Well I'm not really sure." _Jane said thoughtfully. _"But you'll be the first person I call when I figure it out. Oh, by the way, did Lila mention a movie called _Crimson Tides_ to you?"_

Reid frowned and dug around in his mind, unable to recall that movie title ever being brought up. "No. Why?"

_"Well, thank you, Doctor_. _Lisbon and I will be there soon."_

Reid blinked, confused, as Jane hung up. He sighed and laid the phone on the bedside table before picking up the picture of Lila and holding it tight. He suddenly felt the urge to just lie down and disappear, to make all of the pain go away and not have to deal with any of this.

He shuddered at the terrifying though and pushed it out of his mind, letting himself fall back on the bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before closing his eyes and falling asleep with the photo still clutched between long fingers.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Well… things are getting interesting aren't they? Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Once again, I'm sorry it took a while! Stupid college taking away so much of my time *pouts***

**Please let me know what you think! All comments, thoughts and ideas are welcome!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks so much to lovesreidforever, Serpa. Sas, Artemis Sparks, Avenacookie, msdarque, rya13, kayamira, xXLilxFireflyxX and SlasherrGirl for the great reviews! And to everyone who added this to alert and favorites! Your support means a lot to me guys!**

**And now we move onto chapter six! This story is very fun to write I must admit… I sincerely love mixing these two shows!**

**Also… did anyone catch "Proof"? Holy crap, Reid, don't you ever even think about thinking about Dilaudid again! My heart stopped, jeez!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Six**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

"Jane?" Lisbon frowned, looking back over her shoulder in the whitewashed hall to spot the consultant walking slowly behind her, glancing at the closed, thick security doors. He looked up expectantly and she sighed. "You coming?"

He paused, nodding and caught up with her as the guard unlocked one of the many doors down the wide, glaringly white hall. There was a window in the door, steel bars blocking the outside glass pane and Jane couldn't help but think, looking around, that it was eerily familiar to the hospital he'd been in… except that there the security hadn't seemed as … intense.

"Has she been told about Lila?" Lisbon asked worriedly. From looking over the file, Maggie had been more than a little bit unstable and obsessed; she didn't want to be the one to break the news to her that the object of her obsession had been brutally murdered.

He nodded slowly, "It was on the news this morning and yesterday; she had to be sedated. She's calm now, but… try not to agitate her, she's already stressed enough."

Lisbon nodded and sent a meaningful look to Jane, clearly warning him to be on his best behavior while they were talking to the "delusional wacko" as he put it. She didn't need him to send the woman into any sort of psychotic episode, especially not while they were in the room.

Maggie was sitting on a bed draped in a thin white blanket with a single white pillow, wearing a white uniform. Stepping into the white room was almost dizzying for Lisbon and Jane as they looked around. The only things that broke up the sheer overwhelming whiteness was Maggie's long blond hair, messily hanging around her head, a small wooden desk stacked with what looked like scrapbooks and photographs littering the walls. Every one of them shots of Lila Archer.

Lisbon swallowed and watched the woman, staring blankly ahead. She hadn't spoken to very many mentally unstable people in her time, but the ones she had spoken too never failed to unsettle her and Maggie was no exception.

"Maggie…" Lisbon cautiously spoke, unsure of how the woman was going to react. Maggie's eyes flickered to Lisbon and Jane, standing near the door, but otherwise she didn't really react or seem to notice that they were even there.

Lisbon glanced to Jane and started to ask her a question when Jane spoke. "Maggie do you remember Spencer Reid?"

Maggie's eyes hardened and tears glittered there. Her jaw was tight and she nodded. "Yes." She didn't say anything else but that one word seemed to be filled with as much contempt as she could possibly manage.

"Hm. Didn't like him very much." Jane mused thoughtfully.

"Of course not!" Maggie's reaction was visceral, her eyes snapping to Jane's face. "He stole Lila from me!"

Lisbon frowned, "Dr. Reid told us that he and Lila didn't become romantically involved until two months ago." She said.

"Then he's lying. Lila _kissed _him! She told him that she _loved _him!" It almost seemed like it was causing Maggie physical pain to say those words. "She… she never loved me." And suddenly the anger was gone, replaced with watery tears and barely held-off sobs. "I did so much for her and she never loved me…"

Jane eyed the young woman with pity. She'd thrown away her entire life for someone who could never love her back and was either driven mad by that realization, or quite possibly was crazy before.

Lisbon met Jane's eyes with a look that clearly said things were starting to look more suspicious for Dr. Reid. Jane made a face and ignored her. "You know what happened to Lila, don't you?" Jane asked curiously.

Maggie's jaw convulsed and her tears slipped down her cheek and she nodded, sniffling. "It was on the news… She was murdered." She swallowed and looked down at her hands, her fingers twitching and moving rapidly. "You're looking for who did it, right?"

"Yes, we are." Lisbon told her gently. "Maggie… Can you tell us what happened before you were arrested?"

Maggie chewed her lip and looked up at the wall across from them, scanning the photos of Lila. "I don't want to talk about that." She whispered.

Lisbon sighed, "Maggie… according to the file you attempted to kill yourself and Lila… Dr. Reid managed to get the gun away from you without firing his weapon and you were sobbing in his arms when backup arrived."

The young woman nodded without a word, shifting in her seat and swallowing. "He… he was nice."

"If he was nice why are you so angry at him?"

Maggie look back at Jane, her eyes still shining with tears, and frowned. "I told you. He stole Lila… He said that he only said what he said to distract me from hurting her but I saw them together in a news article weeks ago. He lied."

"You do realize that Spencer didn't _steal _anyone from you, Maggie. Lila was your friend, but nothing more. She was never 'yours' to be stolen."

Maggie's eyes narrowed and Lisbon got nervous, sending an annoyed, sharp look to Jane.

"No. No, she would've been with me forever but he had to interfere!" she insisted. "He got in the way and made her forget about me."

"What are these doctors doing here?" Jane thought out loud. "Maggie, seriously, Lila never would've –"

"Thank you for talking with us, Maggie." Lisbon cut him off, giving the young woman a forced smile.

Maggie turned her angry eyes from Jane and looked to Lisbon, nodding slowly. "You are going to find who hurt her, aren't you? You're going to make sure they don't get away with it?"

Lisbon's eyes softened and she nodded. "We're doing our best, Maggie. Thank you."

They left the young woman sitting on the bed, staring at her photos. All she had left of the woman she loved.

"Are you trying to get me fired, Jane, seriously?" Lisbon demanded angrily as they made their way back to the parking lot.

Jane looked at her innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She glared at him. "Jane, it is never a good idea to antagonize the crazy person. If you'd sent her into another fit, I'd have had to deal with complaints from the hospital and take the heat from Hightower."

"I wasn't antagonizing her." Jane insisted. "She still believes that Lila was her other half, her one true love. She's hopelessly obsessed, which means, to me, the doctors haven't explained to her yet that she's bat-nuts crazy."

"Jane…" Lisbon scowled as she got behind the wheel of the SUV.

He grinned, "Are we going to talk to Dr. Reid now?"

"Yes, we are." Lisbon said matter-of-factly. "And I'm going to ask him about the insurance policy and Maggie."

Jane sighed, "Wasting your time."

"I'm a cop, Jane. We run down the leads, even if we don't think someone's guilty. We can't just decide someone is innocent."

"But he is innocent." Jane insisted. "And he wasn't the only person listed as a beneficiary."

"And I sent Van Pelt to follow up with Lila's agent, Jane."

"Good. She's got a killer's eyes… soulless…"

Lisbon raised her brows, "A killer's eyes? You were planning on mentioning this… when?"

"Well having a killer's eyes doesn't always make one guilty, Lisbon." Jane shrugged, staring out the window as they drove to Dr. Reid's hotel. "It's hard to get a real read on her; all Hollywood agents are soul-sucking sociopaths. Well, at least the good ones."

Lisbon sighed and shook her head. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered asking.

**~/.\~**

_"Are you sure everything is alright, Junior G-man?" _Garcia asked worriedly over the phone. Reid sighed and leaned back against the headboard. He'd slept for a good hour, maybe longer, and had been woken by Garcia's phone call, demanding to know if everything was alright, what had happened and why he hadn't called her immediately.

"It's fine, Garcia." Reid assured her for probably the tenth time in the span of the twenty-minutes-and-counting phone call. "I… I'm staying out here until everything is figured out and Morgan and Prentiss are… helping, I suppose. I just need some time to think and clear my head."

_"Ok…" _Garcia seemed reluctant to believe him. _"Hotch said to tell you that you can take as much time as you need. Apparently, you aren't answering his calls, or Rossi's and JJ's either."_

Reid grimaced and sighed, "I've been a little distracted. Tell them I'm sorry."

_"You should call them. At least call Jayje, she's as worried as I am about you, Reid."_

"I will… Later." Reid promised her. He could almost see the look of skepticism on the technical analyst's face when he said that.

_"If you need any help you know where to find me. …And Reid? You know we're all here for you, right? No matter what."_

His smile was faint and he swallowed back half a sob. "No matter what." He agreed. He sat the cell phone back on the nightstand and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. Jane and Agent Lisbon should be arriving any time… He looked across the place at the table, the half empty bottle of Scotch, the creased photograph of Lila sitting face-up next to the glass he'd only recently sat down. His bag tossed haphazardly in the free chair where he'd left it that morning before meeting Jane in the coffee shop.

He was considering sticking his head underneath the pillow and blocking out everything as best he could when there was a knock at the door and he jumped to his feet, shuffling across the room and peering through the hole before opening the door to allow Lisbon and Jane inside.

"Dr. Reid," Lisbon greeted him with a soft, almost sad smile and Reid could see pity and … maybe a bit of guilt lingering in her emerald eyes. Jane looked somewhat unhappy as he followed the shorter woman into the room, his eyes roving around the small space astutely, taking in the alcohol, the photograph, the disheveled bed and Reid's bleary eyes quickly before looking to the floor and frowning.

"Your socks don't match, did you know that?" he asked curiously, looking back up at Reid's face.

Reid looked down and nodded slowly, staring at the bright orange striped sock on his left foot and the blue and yellow duck sock on his right. "Yeah, um, I never wear matching socks."

Jane looked thoughtful, "Interesting little quirk, isn't it?"

"I guess…"

"Did you get the script and movie?" Jane asked, blue eyes shining.

"Yes," Reid turned and grabbed them from them from the bed, passing them into Jane's waiting hands. "I, uh, had to get them from Lila's house." He tapped his long fingers nervously.

"I thought you didn't have a key?" Lisbon asked, raising a brow.

"I don't I…" he sighed, "I picked the lock to get inside. The crime scene tape was gone and technically I would've been staying with her if…" he trailed off and looked down.

Lisbon sighed, watching the kid's face. She had to admit, he really didn't seem like a killer and he was definitely broken up about his girlfriend's death. But it was her job to look at everyone as a suspect until the evidence proved otherwise.

"Right… Well, I have a couple more questions for you about your relationship with Lila… You told us you'd only been together for two months but according to Maggie Lowe*, you two have been together since you saved her life four years ago."

Reid blinked, his eyes widening a bit as he stared at Lisbon. "Lila and I… kissed during the investigation, it was only once. After the case was solved, I flew back to Quantico and she moved on to a new TV show. I didn't see her or talk to her until two months ago when my team was in LA assisting on an investigation and we bumped into each other in a café and started talking and… things went from there." He explained, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Lisbon nodded, glancing toward Jane who was alternately flipping through the script and looking around the small hotel room, apparently not paying attention to the interview considering Reid was innocent and they were, as he put it, wasting their time.

"Um, Dr. Reid, were you aware that Lila took out a Life Insurance policy on herself recently? And named you and her agent Celia the beneficiaries?"

Reid's brows scrunched together, shock flickering across his face as he shook his head. "No… I… are you sure?"

Lisbon nodded, "One million dollars, half of which is now yours."

Reid scrubbed his hands against his trousers, eyes distant. "I… She never told me that."

"Never?" Lisbon raised a brow, glancing back at Jane as he took the empty chair behind her at the table and bent over the script, hmm-ing to himself randomly.

Reid watched Jane for a moment and shook his head, "No, never. I had no idea she had a policy at all I…" his voice cracked and he looked down. "The last thing she said to me was that she had to see me in person and for me to get here as fast as I could."

Lisbon sighed, shifting her on her feet, "May I -?" she motioned to his bag in the one other chair and he nodded absently as she reached out to move it. "She didn't indicate what she wanted to – What is this?"

Reid and Jane both looked up at the tone of her voice as she lifted the bag and stared down at the seat of the chair where a large knife had been partially shoved between the seat and the back, blood still staining the silvery blade.

Reid stared at the knife, his heart stopping as he tried to comprehend what that meant. "I… I don't know how that got there."

Jane was, for once, speechless; staring down at the blade himself as if couldn't possibly really exist.

Lisbon looked back at the young man, unconvinced. "Dr. Reid, why is there a bloody knife in your hotel room?"

Reid's eyes snapped to her and he shook his head. "I don't know! It's not mine, I don't own a knife, I swear!"

Lisbon sighed. She didn't really want to arrest the kid, especially knowing how poorly Jane was going to react, but she had no choice. "We're going to have to sort this out at the station. Put your hands behind your back, Dr. Reid. You're under arrest."

**~M/CM~**

***Thanks to lovesreidforever who told me that Maggie's name WAS mentioned in "Somebody's Watching"; I went back and changed it to Lowe!**

**A/N2: Uh-oh…this looks bad. Very, very bad.**

**I'm not totally happy with the scene w/Maggie… I hope it was alright…**

**And that's about all I have to say… Chapter seven coming soon! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know what you think! You're opinions and comments mean the world to me guys!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks so much to Artemis Sparks, lovesreidforever, joniskpelare, msdarque, SlasherrGirl, rya13, Silvermoon of Forestclan, CaseyRachel88, Avenacookie, McGriddle96, smiles2go and inee for the awesome reviews guys! And I'm sorry it's been a few days, I'm still backed up w/stupid college math work, but I'm trying very hard to pretend it's not there. Procrastination is a wonderful invention XD**

**So, I left you guys on a bit of a cruel note but I assure you all, this mess will eventually be fixed! …I hope… hmm… *evilgrin* Anyway… let's get back to the story, shall we?**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Seven**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

"This is ridiculous!" Jane was protesting as Lisbon led Reid out the door looking almost reluctant. For all her insistence that Dr. Reid was a suspect until proven otherwise, she never believed he was actually guilty; Jane was hardly ever wrong and the kid didn't exactly scream homicidal psycho. But evidence doesn't lie.

"Jane…" Lisbon sighed, gripping Reid's elbow gently. He was surprisingly quiet, a faraway look on his face. Maybe he was in shock, she couldn't quite tell. "We found the murder weapon in his hotel room." She said quietly.

Jane's mouth gaped open and he frowned at her. "But… ah… that doesn't prove anything. How do we even know that that's the knife that killed Lila?"

Lisbon sighed and out of the corner of her eye thought she saw Dr. Reid flinch but he still didn't say anything and she almost felt sorry for the young man.

They were standing out in the hallway of the hotel and Lisbon was grateful that there weren't any hotel patrons around to gawk curiously. Now if she could just get Jane to stop standing there glaring at her so they could leave…

"Then we still have the bloody knife in his hotel room that seems sort of suspicious." Lisbon said agitatedly. "Come on…"

"Maybe someone planted it." Jane insisted.

"Jane…" Lisbon groaned. "We'll look into it. Right now, I've got to take Dr. Reid to the station and question him."

"But –"

"It's fine." Reid spoke finally, his voice a bit hollow, eyes still somehow empty and sad. "It's just a mix up."

Lisbon had to hand it to the kid. He had a level head on his shoulders at least. Most people fought or cried or protested but after she'd pulled her cuffs off her belt it was like all of the fight, all of his emotion, just sort of seeped out of the man and his shoulders slumped as he complied.

"See. Let's go."

Jane scrutinized the young man's face, "No. I… I think I'll stay here. Poke around. Get some tea."

His eyes were unrevealing and Lisbon sighed, "Jane, please, I –"

"No, I know. It's your job; you have to do what you have to do. I need a moment to think. I'll get a ride back somehow." He waved her down the hall, frowning with a look of concentration on his face and she shook her head.

"Fine. Let's go, Dr. Reid." She tugged his elbow gently and led him to the elevators. He went with her without much acknowledgement, seeming totally resigned to his fate.

Just as the elevator doors closed on the two of them, Morgan stepped out of his room a few doors down and frowned when he spotted Jane.

"Mr. Jane?" He approached the man confusedly. "What are you doing here? Looking for Reid?"

"Oh, no. I found him." Jane frowned absently, studying the FBI agent for a moment. "And the murder weapon."

"What do you mean?" Morgan was instantly defensive, eyes narrowing at the other man. "What murder weapon?"

"The one used to kill Lila. It was in Dr. Reid's hotel room. Agent Lisbon's taking him to the police station now to question him."

Morgan's eyes got impossibly wide and he gaped at Jane for what felt like an hour, trying to process that information. "What, but… there has to be some mistake. Reid's not a killer. He wouldn't …"

"Of course he wouldn't." Jane agreed immediately, earning a furrowed look from the agent, who had apparently expected Jane to believe his friend was guilty. "Which means that someone is framing him."

Morgan was still frowning and he looked tensed, ready to burst into action and the only action Jane could think he was considering would be to try and chase Lisbon down and get his friend out of handcuffs. Which wouldn't really do them any good at all.

"Someone must have slipped into the hotel room while you were all out and planted the knife. That someone is the killer and is trying to frame Dr. Reid since the Red John ruse didn't work."

Morgan swallowed, still looking ready to pounce into action, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. "And the hotel security cameras would've caught it."

"Yes, they would." Jane nodded, "But it'll take time to get those. We need one of those fancy warrants unless you plan on stealing the footage and looking yourself, which I have no objection to."

"Warrants take too much time." Morgan muttered, pulling out his phone quickly. "I've got a faster way."

Jane watched curiously as the dark skinned agent held the phone to his ear, face a mask of anger, confusion and determination for a long moment as he waited for the person at the other end to answer.

"Garcia? …I need your help; Reid's in trouble."

**~/.\~**

Supervisory Special Agent in Charge Aaron Hotchner was bent over his desk, staring at the file beneath his pen. They'd finished up a case a few days ago and had spent the rest of the time filing paperwork and reports. He glanced up at the clock on his desk, sighing. Six o'clock.

His finger twitched on the pen and he had the strongest urge to just flip the folder shut and go home. He wanted to see Jack, he wanted to sleep away the stress and forget about everything that had happened recently.

The case in Philadelphia had been a long and difficult one and then hearing Reid's horrible news from Morgan and Prentiss had only added more stress on top of it all.

He sighed heavily and let his tired eyes drop back down to the file only to jerk them back up when the door opened to reveal a wide-eyed Penelope Garcia, pale and shaking slightly.

"Garcia?" he frowned at her, startled as she took a moment to gather herself before launching into a rapid-fire babble that left his head spinning.

"Oh my God, Hotch… I… We have to get to LA. The CBI people were talking to Reid and they found a knife and they arrested him and he's in a holding cell and Morgan wants me to hack into the hotel security footage and he needs our help and I don't know what to do and Morgan said that they're questioning him now and I-"

"Garcia!" Hotch stood from his desk, head still spinning a bit as he tried to comprehend that. "Slow down… What do you mean Reid's been arrested?"

Garcia swallowed and took a deep breath. "They found a bloody knife in Reid's hotel room and arrested him about an hour ago. They think he killed Lila."

Hotch took all of one second to react, flipping the folder shut, grabbing his cell phone from the corner of his desk and sliding his gun into his holster.

"Let's move. I'll clear it with Strauss on the jet."

"I'm coming too?" Garcia's eyes were wide and expectant, hopeful.

Hotch nodded, already moving down the hall to Rossi's office. "You can look through the security footage on the jet. We need to get there fast. Call Morgan and tell him we're on the way."

**~/.\~**

Cho stood outside of the interrogation room, looking into the window for a long moment. The kid inside was tall, skinny, and a little bit awkward. Not what most people would think of as a brutal killer. Especially not one who could eviscerate a woman and gash her throat open.

And Jane insisted that the kid was innocent. In Cho's experience, that usually meant he was innocent. But of course, that didn't explain how the murder weapon got into the kid's hotel room.

Cho let his face settle back into his usual mask of non-emotion as he stepped inside, a yellow folder in his hands, thicker than most, and sat down across from the young man.

He seemed a bit nervous, but he controlled his facial expression well. It was his eyes that gave it away. Fear, anxiety, sadness. It all swirled there in those hazel depths.

Cho shifted in his seat, letting his eyes slide down to the folder as he slowly flipped it open, glancing down at the words. It was more act than necessity; he already knew most of the information contained within the file before ever stepping foot into the small room.

"Dr. Reid." Cho let his eyes drift up to the young man's face for a moment. "You've been in the BAU since you were twenty-two. That's pretty young to join the FBI."

Reid's jaw convulsed and he nodded. He knew where this conversation was going. He'd been on the other end of many similar to this. Of course, he doubted he'd ever had quite such an effective technique as Agent Cho.

"Yeah. It's all I ever wanted to do. Catch the bad guys. Understand why they do what they do so I can stop them from doing it again."

"Hm." Cho nodded thoughtfully. "You also have three PhDs and graduated high school when you were twelve. You're a certified genius."

Reid nodded, looking down at his hands for a long moment. "Yes, well, I don't think that really has anything to do with this, does it?" he asked. Cho was surprised. There was an unexpected edge of bitterness in his voice. "We both know that you don't really care how smart I am or how impressive my career is."

Cho nodded, surprised but finding a small amount of respect for the younger man as he held his steady gaze with eyes that really didn't seem to be capable of hiding anything. "Alright. You and Lila were together for two months, yes?"

Reid's eyes burned with tears at Lila's name and he nodded, unable to force words past the lump in his throat.

"That's a decent amount of time. Getting near the first fight stage." Cho said, his voice even, unemotional. Almost robotic. "Maybe you got to her house and you two had a fight. Maybe you got angry."

"So I gutted her?" Reid's voice cracked and he had trouble keeping the tears from overflowing, anger burning in his voice. "I… I loved Lila. I couldn't hurt her."

Cho's face remained stone-like as he stared at the agent across the table. "Dr. Reid, it says in your file that your mother is Diana Reid, is that correct?"

Reid's jaw tightened. He knew where this was going. He nodded tensely. "Yes."

"Your mom was a smart woman too, wasn't she? She used to teach Fifteenth Century Literature. But since you were eighteen she's been living in Bennington's Sanitarium in Las Vegas because of her Paranoid Schizophrenia."

"I know that; I'm the one who put her in there." Reid's jaw was taut with anger, the tears burning his eyes, fingers so tight his knuckles were white.

"Are you aware that mental illness is hereditary?"

Reid's fingers flexed and he practically glared a hole into Cho's unmoving face. "Some studies have supported that schizophrenia may be linked to genetics and it's statistically more likely to develop schizophrenia if a parent developed the disease as well. Nothing concrete has been proven. What exactly are you suggesting?"

Cho shifted, glancing back down at the file, feeling almost guilty for saying what he said next, though his face and eyes revealed nothing of that guilt.

"You're a brilliant man, Dr. Reid. Smarter than most smart people. You have an eidetic memory, you read more words in a minute than most average people can read in an hour. When you were younger you talked to a therapist after your father abandoned you and that therapist concluded that you exhibited warning signs for a mild autism spectrum disorder."

Reid's eyes widened. "Those records are sealed!"

"They're in your file with the FBI. They tend to make a habit of knowing everything about the people they hire." Cho said swiftly before continuing.

"So maybe you weren't in your right mind. Maybe it wasn't you. Did you even consider that, Doctor? Maybe the reason you don't know how the knife got in your apartment is because you weren't really 'you' when you killed your girlfriend."

"NO!" Reid's hands were shaking, his eyes wide. "There's nothing wrong with me! I'm in perfect mental health!"

"You're certain of that?"

Reid's jaw nearly cracked it was so tight. "Absolutely. Every agent undergoes periodic Psychological Evaluations. My last one was three weeks, four days and roughly six and half hours ago figuring for the three hour time difference." He answered. "I'm sure it's somewhere in my file."

Cho rifled through the papers and produced one, scanning it quickly before looking back up at Reid. "The BAU came up with these questions, didn't they?"

Reid looked surprised that the agent knew that, but nodded slowly with a sigh. "Yes. And if I wanted to, I could provide the necessary answers to keep myself in the field despite failing mental health, but schizophrenia is not something easily hidden for very long and I would never endanger lives of innocent people by lying about my mental stability to keep my job. I understand very well the risks and the possible repercussions that could develop if I tried to hide something like that."

Cho's dark eyes studied Reid carefully. "Then explain why Agent Lisbon found a bloody knife in your hotel room."

"I told you, I don't know how it got there." Reid's voice cracked and he leaned back, pressing his lips together. "I don't own a butcher knife, Agent Cho and I've never seen that knife before in my life."

Cho leaned forward, "But you know how it looks, don't you? Lila took out a policy on her life worth a million dollars and you get half of that money now that she's dead. You conveniently discover the body after an unexpected phone call brings you here, you knew about the Red John case. You could have easily made it look like his kill."

"If I had read the case file, I could have." Reid's voice was hard, his eyes dark. "But I hardly knew the specifics of the case. All I know about Red John is that he's a prolific serial killer, probably a sexual sadist who uses his knife and the act of evisceration as a substitute for the act of sexual intercourse. And he leaves a red smiley face in the victim's blood on the wall. If I were going to copy a serial killer, I'd know better than to break his pattern and I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave the knife in my hotel room and allow a state agent to find it simply by moving a suitcase."

Cho was surprised by the change in the young man's demeanor. "Then how did that knife get there, Doctor?"

"Obviously someone else snuck into the room and put it there." Reid ground through his teeth.

"Why?"

"I don't know! To frame me!" Reid scrubbed his hands through his hair, "Agent Cho, I did not kill Lila. I love her." His voice shook and the tears were back. He looked down and took a breath. "The man who killed her is still out there and you're wasting your time talking to me. I'm innocent!"

"That's what they all say." Cho sounded unconvinced, flipping the folder shut. He looked back up at Reid, folding his hands in front of him and staring unblinkingly at him. "Convince me, Dr. Reid."

Reid's watery, angry eyes didn't move from Cho's dark ones. "I did not kill Lila." He said, his voice hard and intense. "I loved her. I would never hurt her."

Cho stared back at Reid for the space of a heartbeat before standing, chair scraping against the floor, picking the folder up and leaving the room without a glance back for the young man who seemed to be struggling to keep his emotions in check as he stared down at his clenched hands.

**~/.\~**

Lisbon met Cho outside of the interrogation room, arms folded.

"What do you think?" she asked, glancing in at Reid through the blinds. He looked like he was fighting back tears and possibly trying to set the table on fire with the powers of his mind.

"I think he's innocent, just like I told you." Jane's voice made her jump and she whirled around to see the consultant standing there, that trademark grin on his face, flanked by two unfamiliar people wearing guns and badges.

"These are Dr. Reid's colleagues. Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss." He motioned to the two people. "Remember I told you he had friends willing to fly across the country to be with him?"

Lisbon forced a smile and glared daggers at Jane. "I… Yes. Um…" What exactly was she supposed to say? I'm sorry for arresting your friend? Jeez, this kind of thing only happened with Patrick Jane around.

"Agent Lisbon." Morgan held his hand out, shaking it briefly. His and Prentiss's eyes went immediately to Reid through the window, a mixture of worry and determination on their faces.

Lisbon nodded, "I'm sorry about this… I know he's your friend, but we found a knife in his hotel room, Agents. We can't ignore that." She fixed them with her most serious face, though the guilt didn't lessen any.

"We understand." Prentiss spoke up before Morgan could, knowing he probably wouldn't be the best at expressing his feelings correctly. "But you're making a mistake. I know Reid and he isn't capable of killing anyone."

Lisbon eyed the other woman and sighed, "Look, I get it, he's your friend and you don't want him to be guilty, but I can't cut him loose unless I have evidence that says he's innocent."

"Someone's framing him." Morgan insisted. "You need to look at the security footage."

"We're working on a warrant now." Lisbon assured him. "It's going to take some time; the hotel doesn't like that their patrons are being 'spied on' so they're fighting us on it. It'll take some time. We aren't going to charge him with anything until we get a look at the footage, but that won't be until tomorrow morning most likely."

"What if you didn't need a warrant?" Jane suggested, grinning widely.

"We always need a warrant, Jane. It's procedure." Lisbon frowned at the man. "We can't see the tapes without it."

"Agent Morgan has a way." Jane insisted, glancing toward the man with an excited smile on his face, his blue eyes dancing.

"What way?" Lisbon frowned, looking up at the other man skeptically. There was no way to get around a search warrant, especially one for security tapes. It wasn't like they could just burst in there and watch them anytime they wanted. The hotel had to hand them over willingly, which wasn't going to happen, or hand them over after ordered to by a judge.

"Our technical analyst in Quantico, Garcia. She's the best computer analyst in the bureau. I called her and she's looking for the footage now. She should be able to send it to you in a couple of hours."

Lisbon blinked, "Wait… She's hacking into the hotel security footage? That's illegal!"

"How do you think Garcia started working with the FBI?" Prentiss raised a brow. "She's good at what she does. She's going under the radar. It's not like the footage will be used as evidence. You'll get your warrant eventually, but the sooner you release Reid, the faster we can figure out who really did kill Lila."

Lisbon frowned, "I don't like this." She insisted. "It's illegal, we can't just hack into a hotel's security footage."

"We're not." Jane insisted. "Garcia is. Like Agent Morgan said, by tomorrow morning you'll have the footage yourself. This way saves time and effort and we can get back to the real investigation."

Lisbon pressed her lips together. "We don't even know that someone _did _plant the knife!"

"Someone had to." Prentiss's voice was quiet as she looked past the shorter woman and into the interrogation room. "Reid didn't kill anyone."

Lisbon sighed, glancing back to Cho. "Cho, what's your take on Dr. Reid?"

Cho hesitated, glancing toward the agents and Jane's grinning, wide-eyed face. "He's not the type to kill. Even when I made him angry he didn't display violence. He's guarded, upset and angry, but I don't like him for this."

The Senior Agent sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and thinking. "Van Pelt!" she called, looking up when the young woman hurried out of the bullpen toward the small group.

"Yeah, boss?"

"What's the analyst's name?"

"Penelope Garcia." Morgan answered, hope sparking in his eyes.

Lisbon nodded, "Talk to these Agents. Set up a web-conference with their analyst. I want to talk to her."

Jane grinned wide as Van Pelt nodded and Prentiss and Morgan reluctantly left the hall to follow her back to the bullpen. "I knew you'd come around eventually."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "I'm being open-minded. That doesn't mean I'll watch the footage, I just want to know who I'm dealing with here, that's all."

Jane shrugged, "You can't fool me, Lisbon. You like Dr. Reid; you know I'm right."

Lisbon sighed, glancing back at the young man in the interrogation room. "Maybe… Maybe there is something sort of… sweet about him, but that doesn't mean he isn't guilty. He still could've killed Lila."

"Oh please woman, you're such a cop. You don't believe he's guilty any more than I do, just admit it."

She sighed, "Ok, maybe he doesn't seem like a killer but there's a lot of evidence that suggests he is."

"All circumstantial." Jane reminded her. "You don't have anything concrete."

"I think the bloody knife is sort of… concrete." Lisbon said, smirking at him as he led her to the break room.

"Not if it was planted, which it was." Jane insisted, opening the cabinet and frowning. "Why don't they have any blue teacups?" he pouted, reaching inside to pull out a foam cup and stare at it dejectedly.

Lisbon rolled her eyes at him. "I guess the LAPD just doesn't have your sophisticated sense of drinking utensils, Jane."

He frowned at her, "You jest, but this is hardly the appropriate way to appreciate a cup of tea. It's a disgrace, Lisbon, an utter disgrace!"

She snorted, "Take it up with the Chief, I'm sure he'd love to hear how the foam cups upset your tea-sensibilities. Right now, we've got a murder to solve."

"Meh, you've already arrested the wrong man. We're off to a fairly rocky start, aren't we?" He raised a brow, puttering around looking for the tea bags and the teapot with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Boss," Rigsby stuck his head around the corner. "Van Pelt's got the laptop set up for you when you're ready."

"Thanks." Lisbon watched Jane angrily search for the proper utensils to make his tea and smiled, shaking her head. "You and Cho talk to Dr. Reid's friends, would you? Get their take on the relationship, alright?"

"On it." Rigsby ducked out and Lisbon turned back to Jane, who was placing a small silver teapot on the stove.

"I'm going to talk to the FBI analyst…" she said slowly, watching him for a reaction. He grunted but stared down at the pot and she sighed. "Wanna join me maybe?"

"I'll be right there. Listen, from what Agent Morgan says, Garcia's a real… character. Just to warn you."

Lisbon smirked, "I think I can manage a technical analyst. Don't be too long, alright?"

He nodded absently, staring down at his reflection in the pot and marveling at the lengths it seemed Dr. Reid's friends were willing to go for him. He was surprised to think that Lisbon and the rest of the team would probably do the same for him if the situation were reversed and that gave him an oddly warm feeling in his chest as his eyes went from the pot to the foam cup dejectedly.

Stupid, ill-equipped LA police department. How could he possibly drink he tea out of that stupid cup and be able to focus on getting Dr. Reid out of that interrogation room and back to finding his girlfriend's killer like he was supposed to be doing? It would be no small feat, that was for sure.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: YAY! The BAU is on the way!**

**Whew… I did not expect that chapter to be so long…**

**But I'm happy with how it turned out at least. I had a bit of writer's block at the beginning but half-way through the dam broke XD**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know what you think! Your opinions mean the world to me guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: *Frustrated frown* I just can't seem to get these chapters out as fast as I really want! I'm sorry for taking a bit guys, seriously! Your continued support and reviews means a lot to me!**

**Thanks to inee, Artemis Sparks, Serpa. Sas, Avenacookie, McGriddle96, msdarque, Silvermoon of Forestclan, SlasherrGirl, lovesreidforever, joniskpelare, smiles2go and rya13 for the reviews! And thanks to everyone who added this to alerts and favorites! I love you guys, seriously!**

**Now… The BAU is on their way and Lisbon is about to talk to Garcia XD Oh what fun!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Eight**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

"Hotch what's going on?" JJ frowned as she took her seat on the jet next to Garcia. Hotch had only told her and Rossi to be ready to leave as soon as possible. "Are we leaving for a case? Because nothing came across my desk."

"No," Hotch sighed as he settled into his seat and glanced toward Garcia, who was sitting tight lipped next to the other blond. She hadn't said much since they'd left the BAU which was highly unusual for her. "It's about Reid."

"What about Reid?" Rossi asked, frowning at the younger man. "Did something happen?"

The Unit Chief hesitated and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "He's been arrested."

"What? But… There has to be some mistake." JJ's eyes were wide as she stared at her boss. "Reid wouldn't do anything wrong. What was he arrested for?"

Hotch hesitated again and Rossi understanding, shook his head and answered for him. "Lila. They think he killed his girlfriend."

"No." JJ shook her head, looking to Hotch for confimation. When he sighed and nodded sadly her brows came together and she argued. "They can't think that. Why would they –"

"They found the murder weapon in his hotel room." Hotch cut the liaison off. "They had to arrest him."

"But that's not possible. Someone's framing him; Reid isn't a murderer."

"I know that and you know that. But the CBI doesn't and they're doing their job. We're going to get this fixed as soon as we get there."

JJ pressed her lips together and looked unconvinced. How could anyone possibly believe that Reid, sweet, goofy, awkward, godfather of her child, Reid, was capable of murder? There wasn't any way that he could take someone's life, especially not Lila's. He loved her. That woman had him wrapped around her finger and everyone on the team knew it. They teased him about it but he never let it bother him.

"Garcia's trying to get into the hotel security cameras and find out who got into the room to plant the knife. Until then, we'll keep in touch with Morgan and Prentiss to figure out what's going on."

"How far have you got?" Rossi asked, glancing toward the technical analyst who was busily working away on her laptop, muttering to herself every now and then. She had a look in her eyes that was bordering on psychotic.

"Not far enough. This stupid hotel has encrypted firewalls and anti-hack software that would work for military operations." She scowled. "But don't worry. There's nothing Penelope Garcia can't hack."

JJ smiled slightly, shaking her head. "We all know that's true."

Garcia frowned, pausing for a moment and looking up at Hotch. "Reid's gonna be ok, right? I mean… after what happened to Lila and now he's been arrested… he'll be alright, won't he?"

"Of course he will." Rossi answered for Hotch. "The kid's tougher than he looks, Garcia."

She smiled, shaking her head, and went back to her work. She didn't say it, but they were all thinking it: when Rossi wasn't being sarcastic, something was wrong. Something bad. Morgan had been arrested once and that hadn't exactly turned out well even considering they caught the bastard who had killed those boys. And then there was the time Elle had gotten arrested, but that was easy enough to clear up. Well, the first time anyway. The second time ended with her leaving the FBI even after she was cleared.

This time was different. Unlike with Morgan and Elle, Reid _knew _Lila and according to Morgan, they'd been able to establish some form of motive however ridiculous it seemed to them. That added to the circumstances of him finding the body and showing up unexpectedly in LA seemed very suspicious. They had to get those tapes to prove that he was innocent.

She was so focused on her computer that she nearly jumped a foot in the air when her laptop dinged lightly and suddenly she was looking at Morgan's worried face.

"Hey, Baby Girl."

She put a hand on her chest and glared at the agent. "Derek Morgan don't you ever do that to me again! I could've had a heart attack!"

He smiled faintly, "Sorry. Listen, we talked to the CBI agents and Agent Lisbon wants to talk to you real quick, do you mind?"

"Of course!" Garcia nodded, glancing toward Hotch briefly. "I'll tell him to let my baby genius go."

Morgan grinned for a split second and shook his head. "Agent _Teresa_ Lisbon, Baby Girl. She's a woman."

"Same difference. I'll still rip her to shreds for arresting Junior G-man."

"Calm down, Baby Girl. She hasn't filed the charges yet. She's trying to work with us here, ok. She just wants to have to facts like any good cop would."

Garcia frowned, raising a brow. "Any good cop, huh? What's this cop look like, my Chocolate 007? Is she pretty and tall and blond and –"

"Penelope…"

She sighed, "Alright, alright. I won't be mean to the CBI woman if she lets my baby go, agreed?"

He shook his head, "Be nice, Baby Girl; she'll coming around."

"She'd better…" Garcia muttered threateningly. She didn't care what her job was, she'd arrested Reid and she had to let him go or she'd suffer the wrath of Penelope Garcia and that was all there was to it.

**~/.\~**

Lisbon watched as Agent Morgan and Agent Prentiss followed Cho and Rigsby into an empty office to talk. She could tell they were very close to their colleague. She hated having to arrest him but damn it, that didn't make her the bad guy here. It was her job and that's what she'd had to do. They should understand that better than anyone.

She sat down in front of the laptop and had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The woman on the screen was blond, her hair done up in a colorful 'do on top of her head, what looked like streaks of green and blue coloring through most of it. She was wearing a pair of almost neon pink glasses with a bright orange top and a glittery purple flower adorned one side of her head. The only thing she could think was: _This _woman is an FBI analyst?

"Miss Garcia?" she asked a bit nervously as she shifted in her chair. "I'm Agent Lisbon –"

"I know; you're the woman who arrested my boy genius."

Lisbon could hear the anger and hurt that the other woman didn't even try to conceal in her voice and she pressed her lips together, looking down. "I know and I'm sorry it had to happen but I didn't have any choice. We found a bloody knife in his hotel room."

Garcia remained unconvinced, shaking her head. "Reid's not a killer. He's an innocent little, puppy-eyed, nerdy kid. He could never kill anyone." She insisted. "How could you possibly think he would?"

Lisbon sighed, "I know you're unhappy but I had to arrest him, it's my job. If we find proof that the knife was planted there, we'll release him. I'm not going to charge him with anything until we can get a look at those tapes but I won't have the warrant until morning."

"Reid can't spend the night in jail!" Garcia protested. "I can get those tapes for you before the morning, Agent. Give me enough time to get past these firewalls and you'll have your killer."

Lisbon chewed her lip, looking over her shoulder. Where the hell was Jane? He'd been in that damn kitchen for a while. "I have to wait on the warrant. Hacking into the system like that is illegal."

Garcia made a face, "It's not that hard and no one will ever know. I'm the best there is," she insisted. "How do you think the FBI found me in the first place?"

Lisbon sighed, "I understand that you want to get Dr. Reid out of here as soon as possible but it's the law. I have to wait on the warrant."

"Nonsense." Jane's voice spoke behind her as he pulled up a seat.

Lisbon growled. Now he decides to show up.

"You can look at the footage tonight, let Dr. Reid go, get the warrant tomorrow morning and pretend you never saw anything and no one will know the difference. Besides, who are you hurting, really?"

Garcia grinned, "I like this man. Who are you?"

"Patrick Jane." Jane grinned, eyeing the woman on the monitor. Agent Morgan had said she was a bit unique but this was breeching insanity… He decided immediately that he liked Penelope Garcia. "I'm trying very hard to convince Agent Lisbon, my dear friend and colleague, that she doesn't always have to follow to the rules."

"Jane, rules are there for a reason. If we don't get a warrant to see the tapes and we watch them illegally, that evidence could get thrown out, potentially crippling our case."

"Not if no one knows about it, Lisbon." Jane sighed. "Look, you're going to have the warrant in the morning anyway. You already know that, so why not just look at the footage early? If you're going to see it, you're not hurting anything at all. In fact, you're helping. We can get Dr. Reid back out here where he belongs so that we can catch the man who killed his girlfriend and make sure he gets punished for it."

"Exactly! Mr. Jane you make perfect sense!" Garcia grinned brightly. "Please Agent Lisbon; Spencer Reid is one of the sweetest, kindest, gentlest people I've ever met. He couldn't kill anyone and I can prove that he's being framed if you'll just let me get the footage for you. He shouldn't have to spend the night in jail."

Lisbon bit her lip. She felt horrible for making Dr. Reid's friends go through this but it was still her job to follow procedure. "I'm sorry, I can't. I need a warrant first and the hotel isn't going to willingly give up their footage."

Garcia sighed, "Look, I understand that it's your job but that's my friend in there and he's innocent whether you think he is or not. He doesn't need to deal with this right now; his girlfriend was murdered and this is just making things worse. He shouldn't spend even one second longer in that stupid room and if he's hurt so help me –"

"Garcia, wait!" Lisbon frowned when she heard another female voice nearby and the analyst turned to glance at someone sitting to her right. "Agent Lisbon said the hotel wasn't willing to hand over the tapes... what if they were?"

Suddenly another blond woman leaned into the screen, "Agent Lisbon, I'm Jennifer Jareau. If we can convince the hotel to hand over the tapes willingly, that'll get Spence out of there, right?"

"Well… sure, if there's footage of someone breaking into his room to plant the weapon. But how –"

"Hotch, we can get them to do that, right? It's totally legal." Agent Jareau glanced over the monitor and nodded. "Great. I'll call the hotel and get them to send you the footage as fast as possible. By the time we land, Reid should be cleared."

Lisbon frowned, "Wait, wait. What do you mean 'by the time you land'?" she demanded.

"You didn't really expect us to sit around in Quantico waiting to hear what happened?" Garcia asked, raising a brow. "We're on our way to LA now."

"You're what?"

"Uh, I believe she said they were on their way here, Lisbon." Jane told her, grinning.

"I heard her." Lisbon growled at the man. "This is still a CBI case, Agent Jareau, the FBI doesn't have any jurisdiction."

"We know that," a male voice, somewhere off camera, spoke then. "We're not going to impede your investigation Agent Lisbon, we're only flying in to help a friend in need."

Lisbon sighed, "Alright, fine I guess. You can try, but the hotel manager isn't budging on this. He told us flat out, no warrant, no tapes."

"We'll get the tapes sent to you." Garcia assured her. "See you in a few hours."

The screen went dark and Lisbon sighed, sitting back in her chair, shaking her head. "Flying all the way from Virginia just to be with a friend." She mused. "These people are close."

Jane grinned, "I liked that Garcia woman. Very colorful."

Lisbon cracked grin, shaking her head. "Where were you anyway? I thought she was going to eat me alive and spit me back out for a minute."

"Nah. She's harmless."

"I somehow doubt that." Lisbon shook her head, remembering the fierce look in the woman's eyes.

"Well, not when her friends are in danger, no. Then I'd say it's a fair guess that anyone who hurt them would be in serious trouble. But you're not going to hurt Dr. Reid or any of Miss Garcia's friends because you know Dr. Reid's innocent and you'll let him go."

"If there's proof on the tapes."

"There is."

"You sound so sure."

"I always am." Jane grinned. "Is Dr. Reid still in the interrogation room?"

"Yeah. Why?" Lisbon raised a brow suspiciously and Jane just flashed another grin.

"No reason, just want to talk to him, that's all." He stood and headed for the interrogation room and Lisbon groaned, getting up to follow him. There was no way she was letting Jane talk to Dr. Reid alone. There was no telling what the consultant would do if left to his own devices.

**~/.\~**

"How would you describe Dr. Reid and Lila's relationship?" Cho asked, leaning against the desk in the empty office. Rigsby stood beside him, eyeing the two agents sympathetically. One of their colleagues and friends had been arrested for murdering someone; he couldn't imagine what that would be like.

Prentiss sighed, "Fine. It was perfect. He was happy. Talked to her all the time on the phone, she even went to a barbeque we had at our boss's house a few weeks back."

"So there weren't any problems? He never cheated on her? She never cheated on him?" Rigsby asked, looking from one face to the other.

Morgan scowled, "Reid would never cheat on a woman, he's not that kind of guy. And as far as I can tell, Lila loved Reid. She'd never do something to hurt him."

"Did Dr. Reid ever mention an insurance policy to you recently?"

"What?" Prentiss frowned.

"Lila took out a policy on her life a month ago worth a million dollars. Half of that is now Dr. Reid's money."

"So you think Reid killed Lila for half a million dollars?" Morgan asked incredulously.

"People have killed for less." Cho told him, unmoving.

"Not Reid. Reid wouldn't kill anyone for anything."

"He's an FBI agent." Cho reminded him.

"So what?" Morgan glared at the other agent, his fists tight. "That doesn't make him a killer! I'm an FBI agent; you think I'm a murderer too?"

"No, but I think it'd be strange if an FBI agent never fired on a suspect. Has Dr. Reid ever killed anyone in the field?"

Prentiss and Morgan glanced at each other and sighed. "Two men." Morgan finally answered. "Philip Dowd and Tobias Hankel. They were UnSubs from cases we worked. He shot them both. He had no other options and his life and others were in danger. That doesn't make him capable of this."

"But you said he wasn't a killer. He's killed two people," Cho countered.

Morgan glared at the agent, "That's different. It was his job to kill those men. And he felt bad for it afterwards even though he had no other choice. It's the kind of man he is. Reid is not a murderer and he'd never kill anyone in cold blood."

"That you know of." Cho said.

"No." Prentiss shook her head. "Reid's not a killer, Agent Cho. I understand that you're doing your job, but this is ridiculous. Reid's innocent. He loved Lila and he'd never hurt her. Not even if it would save his own life."

Cho glanced up at Rigsby and the two CBI agents shrugged. "We believe you, Agent Prentiss, but we did find the murder weapon in Dr. Reid's room."

"He's being framed."

"Maybe. But until we can prove that, we have to operate under the assumption that he's guilty." Cho told her. "You know that."

Prentiss sighed, "Operate under whatever assumption you want, he didn't do it."

Cho and Rigsby sighed as the FBI agents left the office looking unhappy.

"You really think he's innocent?" Rigsby asked, glancing at his friend.

It took a moment for Cho to answer. "Yeah I do. Dr. Reid's a genius. He knows the ins and outs of law enforcement and he kept the knife in his hotel room? If he were going to kill someone, he'd be smarter about it. Plus, a scrawny kid like him would've had a difficult time hacking a person apart like that."

**~/.\~**

Reid had been sitting in the interrogation room for a long time, staring down at his hands and letting his thoughts wander. He kept going back to that phone call with Lila before he'd left Philadelphia. He knew, without really knowing how he knew, that whatever Lila had called him about was the same thing that got her killed. But she hadn't said anything to him over the phone about what it was that was bothering her. Thinking back he really wished he'd gotten her to talk to him.

He jumped when the door was suddenly pulled open and Jane and Agent Lisbon walked in, Agent Lisbon looking tired and aggravated. Reid figured Jane had that effect on people.

Jane pulled the seat out and sat down, smiling. "We just spoke with your friend Miss Garcia. Lovely woman… uh, does she always dress like that?" Jane asked curiously. He glanced up at Lisbon who was standing near the door, content to watch as long as Jane didn't try anything stupid.

A smile ghosted across Reid's lips and he nodded. "Yeah, Garcia… she's interesting."

"That she is." Jane grinned. "And she certainly was very protective of you. All of your friends are."

Reid looked down at his hands and nodded, "We're a family. They're all I have."

"Yes, you grew up without a father."

Reid looked up, only mildly surprised by this point.

"What happened to him? Your father?" Jane tilted his head curiously and Reid sighed.

"He left when I was ten."

"Left?"

"Yeah. He packed his bags and he walked away. Apparently he was tired of dealing with the stress of being a father. He couldn't do it."

Jane sighed, "Must've been hard."

"I got over it." Reid's voice was tight and he looked down, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"So you must have been close to your mother." Jane mused, watching Reid's face. "But she couldn't be there like she should have, could she? I suspect some form of sickness. Mental illness maybe."

"She's schizophrenic." Reid murmured lightly.

"Ah." Jane nodded. "Difficult to grow up with just a mentally ill mother I guess."

"What's this got to do with anything?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm just nosy." Jane grinned but it was a sad sort of smile. "You're a very interesting man, Dr. Reid. Intelligent and well-guarded and yet somehow childlike and surprisingly complicated."

Lisbon snorted, "Remind you of anyone, Jane?"

Jane paused thoughtfully, "Should it?" he raised a brow, grinning broadly again and she rolled her eyes at him.

Reid shifted in his seat. "I still don't see why this is important."

Jane sighed, "I'm just trying to understand what it is about you that's so… endearing. Even I like you and there aren't many people I like, ask Lisbon here. Besides, it's fascinating that you've been through what you've been through and you can still stay so … strong."

"What do you mean 'what I've been through'?" Reid raised a brow.

"Your childhood aside, something happened not too long ago that gave you some sort of pause. Some traumatic event that altered your life. It's the reason you were abusing narcotics, isn't it?"

Reid's hand went to the inside of his elbow and he grimaced. "How do you know that?"

"To be honest, it wasn't obvious. You've been clean for a while I'd guess. Still struggling sometimes, but you're winning the battle. It's in your eyes. The dark circles. Your skin's still a bit sallow and it's obvious you haven't regained the weight you lost. What was it? Heroine?"

Reid sighed, fidgeting and glancing toward Agent Lisbon who was now watching him with interest. "Dilaudid." He finally answered. "And you're right, I am clean. Have been for over a year now."

Jane nodded, "Good." He licked his lips. "I know this whole thing is tempting you to start using again but it's not going to help you, Doctor. Neither is that Scotch you've got in your hotel room."

Reid looked down and sighed.

"Don't misunderstand me, I know why you were drinking. I've been there." Jane's voice was serious and somber and Lisbon shifted a bit, feeling like she was intruding on some private moment. "When my wife and daughter were killed I drank myself into oblivion until eventually I just …broke down. Trust me, you don't want that."

Reid looked back up at Jane and nodded slowly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let that happen."

Jane pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. "Well…" he cleared his throat. "The real reason I'm here is because I need to ask you something, Doctor. When Lila called you, you said she sounded nervous and upset, right? Are you absolutely certain she didn't mention anyone? Any names or anything?"

"No." Reid shook his head. "She… she said she needed to talk to me in person about something important. She asked me to get here as soon as I could. That's all."

Jane sighed, "The movie she'd just signed on for, _Crimson Tides_, she never mentioned it?"

"No, she was always talking about _Redemption for the Devil _and how it was going to get her name out there and people were going to start noticing her more but she never mentioned another movie."

"What about her TV show?" Jane asked. "Did she talk about it often?"

"She… well lately she'd been talking about leaving the show. Her contract is up this year and the new season was going to shoot the last few episodes next month."

"Wait," Lisbon frowned. "She was going to leave the show? Her agent told us they were about sign a new contract."

Reid frowned, shaking his head. "No. Lila told me she wasn't going to renew her contract when it came up again. She said she was ready to try something new."

Jane grinned, standing up. "I told you Lisbon. A killer's eyes."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Jane." She muttered, pulling her cell phone out.

"Don't worry, Dr. Reid, your friends will have you out of here in no time." Jane assured him.

"Van Pelt?" Lisbon spoke quickly. "Listen, I want you to contact the studio where Lila's TV show was being produced. Find out if she was going to sign a new contract or not." She snapped the phone shut and turned to Jane.

"Come on, let's got. It's getting dark and I want to get this finished before we go back to the hotel."

"Can Dr. Reid come too?"

"No, Jane, Dr. Reid cannot come until we clear him."

Jane grinned and turned to Reid as Lisbon left quickly, "See that? She knows you're going to get cleared."

Reid smiled slightly, "Yeah… thank you, Mr. Jane."

"Nah. You're innocent, I'm just doing my job."

Reid watched as he followed Lisbon out the door and sighed, leaning back in his chair. He didn't know why but every time he talked to the consultant he felt drained and yet somehow hopeful. At least the team was on the way and the other agents were starting to believe him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could sit in this little room without losing his mind.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Well, at least they're getting somewhere right? Reid'll be out of there in no time. And then they'll get back to looking for the **_**real**_** killer.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed! Please let me know what you think! You're opinions mean the world to me guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks to Silver Moon of Forestclan, Avenacookie, SlasherrGirl, McGriddle96, Artemis Sparks, msdarque, joniskpelare, inee, DragonGate and the anonymous reviewer who didn't leave their name for the awesome reviews guys! You rock! I'm sorry it took so long; I've been so busy with stupid homework and trying to actually READ "The Son of Neptune" and get other stories ready for posting… Sorry!**

**And thanks to those of you who added this to alerts and favorites as well! You rock too! You're support means a lot to me ^.^**

**So, now let's get back to the actual story…**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Nine**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

"Can we speak to Miss Jorge?" Lisbon asked, leaning over the receptionist's desk just a bit. It was the same woman from the other night, still looking bored and unhappy. This time, she was staring at her computer screen, randomly clicking her mouse idly.

She glanced up at them and sighed, muttering under her breath. "Miss Jorge is in a meeting right now, I'm sorry. She can't be interrupted."

"A meeting?" Lisbon frowned, "At seven o'clock at night?"

"Yes." The woman said simply. "She is."

Lisbon sighed, "We just have a few questions for her; do you know how long she'll be?"

"No idea. Could be hours."

"Hours?" Lisbon raised a brow, frowning at her. "We're talking about a homicide investigation here. It's important that we speak to her as soon as possible."

"Well, you can take a seat over there and wait. I'll let you know when she's done."

Lisbon growled under her breath, considering how much fun it would be to whip out her gun and threaten to shoot the girl just for the heck of it. But of course, she didn't do that. Because that would be wrong. She sighed and walked over to the small sitting area with Jane at her heels.

"You aren't really going to wait here are you?" Jane asked, watching Lisbon sit down. "We need to talk to Celia. Maybe I can get a better read on her this time."

"We can't just barge in there while she's in a meeting. We'll give her ten minutes and then go in."

"Ten minutes? We're going to wait out here for ten minutes when we could be in there finding out what really happened to Lila Archer?"

Lisbon sighed, "Jane, Celia is a person of interest, but we have nothing tying her to the murder yet. What would she have to gain anyway?"

"Besides half a millions dollars?" Jane frowned, "I have no idea, but she did lie about Lila's TV show. There's a reason for that."

Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yes, besides half a million. You and I both know she could've made twice as much if Lila had gone on to film that new movie and it was as successful as they hoped it would be."

Jane made a face. He glanced toward the desk where the receptionist was staring back at her computer monitor again, boredom eking out of every pore in her body. "Which way was Celia's office?"

"What?" Lisbon frowned, jumping up as Jane hurried down a hall, passing by the young woman at the desk. "Jane come back here!" Lisbon hissed, running down the hall after him.

"You can't go in there!" the receptionist called, not getting up from her desk. "Agents! Get back here!"

"Jane!" Lisbon sighed when the consultant reached the office door and pulled it open. "Jane stop!" she ran in after him.

"This has to st- Mr. Jane!" Celia was standing behind her desk, her palms flat against the surface. Standing across from her was a tall, dark haired man in an expensive suit with a scowl on his face. "Agent Lisbon…" Celia sounded out of breath for a moment, her eyes wide in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" the man demanded, frowning at Jane as Lisbon came up behind him and grabbed his arm.

"I'm Patrick Jane, with the CBI. This is Teresa Lisbon and we have a few questions for Miss Jorge."

"We're having a private conversation, Mr. Jane." The man frowned at him. "You're just going to have to wait. And as for the CBI, I've got a few complaints to make about how you guys handle your business."

"This is a homicide investigation and we don't have to wait for anything." Jane glared at the man.

"Jane, let's go."

"Lisbon this is important. We're already here, just ask the questions."

Celia sighed, "Harvey, it's fine. They can ask their questions."

"Like hell they can! They can't just come barging in here like that. They've already caused me enough headaches, now I want you out of here. We are under no obligation to talk to you."

"Harvey?" Jane raised a brow. "Harvey Bulkwright? The producer?"

"As a matter of fact I am. And I've already spoke to two of your agents earlier. I don't need to speak to them again." He sent an angry look Lisbon's way and added. "I tried to get in contact with their boss, but the LAPD said she was out."

"She was." Lisbon frowned at the man, instantly disliking him. "She's me. And I can assure you, Mr. Bulkwright, both Agents Rigsby and Cho were reprimanded for their poor behavior during your interview."

"Not that they deserved it." Jane muttered.

"Are all of your agents so disrespectful?" Harvey demanded, glaring at Jane.

"I'm not an agent."

"He's not an agent." Lisbon agreed. "He's a consultant."

Jane grinned, "No badge, no gun, no boss."

"Um, actually, Jane –"

"Where were you when Lila Archer was killed?" Jane asked curiously, tilting his head at the man.

"That is none of your business, Mr. Jane."

"I-I heard you arrested Spencer Reid this afternoon for that." Celia spoke up, a confused look flickering on her face as she looked from Lisbon to Jane.

"He was being framed." Jane said simply.

"Oh goodness!" Celia's eyes got wide. "… I knew he couldn't have hurt Lila."

"Mhm." Jane nodded. "Celia, why did you lie about Lila's TV show?"

"I… what?" Celia swallowed, looking nervous now. She licked her lips.

Lisbon sighed, "Miss Jorge, according to Dr. Reid, Lila was planning on leaving the show. But you told us that you were negotiating a new contract for her because of the movie she was about to start filming with Mr. Bulkwright." She motioned to the man, who still looked ready to punch something. "Care to explain that?"

Celia pressed her lips together nervously. "She did decide to leave the show, but a few days before the murder, she called me and said that she was reconsidering leaving. I called the producers and scheduled a meeting. She wouldn't tell me why she'd changed her mind. You can call the producers and talk to them if you want."

"There see, you asked your question, now you can leave." Harvey growled at them.

Lisbon frowned at the man. "You said you heard we'd arrested Dr. Reid. How did you hear that? It hasn't been on the news yet."

Celia looked flustered, "I… I heard it, I'm sure." She insisted. "Someone must've told me."

Lisbon looked unconvinced and glanced to Jane, who was watching Harvey.

"Mr. Bulkwright, you were the producer for _Crimson Tides_ yes?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, I was. So what? I produce a lot of movies, it's what I do."

"A lot of movies." Jane nodded absently. "Like _Redemption for the Devil_, maybe?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Just a question." Jane shrugged. "I'm curious."

Harvey scowled, "You can leave now." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"So hostile, Harvey. Why is that?" Jane grinned and stared the man in the eye, not looking away when Harvey glared daggers at the consultant.

"Out."

"I told you, Mr. Bulkwright, this is a murder investigation and –"

"We're leaving." Lisbon forced a smile and yanked Jane's arm, tugging him along behind her. Jane sighed, stumbling for a moment and pulling his arm out of her hands.

"Come on Lisbon, you ruined my moment." Jane sighed, "It was just getting fun in there."

"It is a bad idea to annoy the big, powerful, rich movie producer Jane." Lisbon insisted. "I didn't like him either, but we cannot afford a man like that on our bad side, alright?"

Jane made a face, "He irks me." He muttered. "And he's hiding something."

"Of course he is; he's a movie producer, they're all hiding something."

Jane sighed, "That isn't what I meant, Lisbon. And Celia seems to be scared of him. Plus, she's hiding something too."

"Great. So now our two new suspects are Lila's agent and a producer." She shook her head.

"Better than an FBI agent, don't you agree?"

Lisbon glared at him, "No, you know what Jane, this kind of thing never happens when you aren't around."

"I know; when I'm not around, you arrest innocent people all willy-nilly."

Lisbon sent him a venomous look and punched him in the shoulder. He winced, pouting.

"Ow. That hurt, Lisbon."

She grinned as she slid into the driver's seat. "Oh, did it? Good."

**~/.\~**

Rigsby and Cho were sitting in the bullpen with Prentiss and Morgan, watching the clock. The BAU was supposed to be arriving in about an hour and Van Pelt had just finished talking with the producers of Lila's TV show, confirming that there had been talk of leaving the show and then renegotiating the contract.

Rigsby was tossing peanuts into the air and trying to catch them in his mouth. Judging from the amount of peanuts on the floor, he wasn't doing a very good job. "Give it up, man." Cho shook his head, watching him with a sort of skeptical smirk on his face.

"No, no, I almost got it!" Rigsby argued, tossing another peanut in the air, missing it narrowly.

Prentiss laughed, shaking her head. "You're trying too hard," she told him when he went to dig for another peanut in the bag.

"Huh?" Rigsby looked confused.

"You're trying too hard. Don't think so much," Prentiss said. "Here, let me show you."

"This I gotta see." Morgan grinned, scooting closer. Prentiss smirked and rolled her eyes, leaning forward and taking a peanut from Rigsby's bag.

"Watch and learn, macho-man." She grinned and tossed it up in the air, closing her eyes and catching it easily as it came back down.

"Alright," Rigsby grinned. "That was awesome!"

"How did you do that woman?" Morgan demanded, frowning at her.

She smiled, "Actually, Reid taught me."

"Reid taught you?" Morgan looked skeptical.

"Yep. It's all in the wrist apparently. And you know Reid and his magic tricks." She shrugged. "He's good."

"Dr. Reid does magic tricks?" Van Pelt asked, "Really? So does Jane."

Morgan nodded, "Oh yeah. He's great. Just don't ever play poker with him, the kid cheats."

"He doesn't really cheat." Prentiss argued, swatting him in the shoulder. "But with his eidetic memory does give him an unfair advantage."

"That and he's from Vegas." Morgan grinned.

"Ooh," Van Pelt smiled, "You know what we should do? We should get Jane and Dr. Reid to play cards together! Jane's got an excellent memory too and we never beat him."

"Yeah, his memory palace or something." Rigsby shrugged, popping a peanut into his mouth. "He's good."

Prentiss grinned, "That sounds like fun…" her smile fell. "After this is all sorted out, of course."

Van Pelt nodded somberly. "Of course. And it will be. Dr. Reid seems really sweet, I'm sure this will be cleared up in no time." Her cell phone buzzed and she snatched it up, "Hello? Craig! Hey. Yeah… That's sounds great, but… I'm still in LA. Yeah, the case is taking longer than we expected." She paused, shaking her head. "Oh, no… It wasn't Red John after all. Yeah, we still looking for the real killer. Alright. I'll call you later. Love you!"

Rigsby's jaw was tight and he said something under his breath, shoving a handful of peanuts into his mouth quickly.

Morgan watched him curiously but didn't say anything and Prentiss cleared her throat. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah." Van Pelt smiled. "He's an FBI agent. Craig O'Laughlin."

"Hm. Never met him." Prentiss shrugged. "Sounds like you two are in love."

Van Pelt grinned, "He is such a sweet guy." She was practically glowing. Rigsby muttered again and Cho shook his head at the man.

Morgan's phone buzzed and he pulled it out, "Yeah, Baby Girl? Alright, thanks. See you soon. Yeah, I'll tell him. Ok…" He hung up and looked relieved. "Garcia said the hotel should be sending you the footage soon. They'll be landing in about an hour."

"Really? They got the hotel to give up the footage? How?" Van Pelt looked surprised.

"You probably don't want to know. If Garcia had anything to do with it, it probably violated some federal law somewhere." Prentiss warned, smiling.

"It's here!" Van Pelt checked her laptop, "They sent an email saying that they decided to give us the footage after all. It's attached."

"Well open it," Rigsby said, standing and moving around to stand behind her chair. "Let's watch."

"Give me a second," Van Pelt clicked the link and scooted closer, letting Cho, Prentiss and Morgan gather around and watch the screens. "Ok…" she pressed play and fast-forwarded through until she came to the morning.

"Alright, there's Reid leaving with us." Morgan murmured, "That's when we met Mr. Jane at the coffee shop."

The footage kept speeding forward. "Hold on," Cho reached out and paused it. "There. That woman," he pointed to a woman dressed in a business suit, a dark hat hiding her hair. She was creeping toward Reid's hotel room with a large bag over her shoulder.

Van Pelt squinted and played it back at normal speed, watching as the woman fiddled with the lock on the door for a moment before entering and exiting a few minutes later. "See. Someone did plant that knife." Morgan said, straightening up.

"Play it back." Prentiss frowned, leaning forward. "Maybe we can get a shot of her face."

Van Pelt nodded and replayed it, freezing it as she glanced around behind her. She frowned and zoomed in as far as she could. "Oh my God…" she gasped, "That's… That's Lila's agent, Celia!"

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Woohoo! They cleared Reid! And I am, again, sorry for the delay! **

**Don't worry, next chapter, they'll get Reid out of that cell, the team will arrive and they'll probably have some more questions for Miss Jorge, don't ya think? X)**

**Also… Who loved that wonderful little prank war in "Painless"? And that profile the new boss gave for Jane in "Ring Around the Rosie"? ;) Awesome new episodes! XD**

**And back to the story… Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know! I love hearing from you guys!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks to Silvermoon of Forestclan, pmbs1992, McGriddle96, Little Bloody Angel, lovesreidforever, Avenacookie, msdarque, inee, rya13, criminalxxxmindsxxxreid, Artemis Sparks and TenshiNanashi for the reviews! You guys are seriously amazing! I love you all! And I am having such fun writing this story… **

**Now… FORWARD! MARCH! Lol :P**

**Onto chapter 10! YAY double digits!**

**And YAY the BAU is arriving! Finally! WOOT!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Ten**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Lisbon was starting to hate LA. The traffic was terrible, the people were rude and she was stuck in a car with Patrick Jane. How could things possibly get any worse than this? All she wanted was to get back to the police station, find out if the FBI agents had arrived and what had happened with the security footage and then, get back to the hotel and sleep. For as long as she possibly could before waking up again and repeating all of this over and over and over.

"I'm bored, Lisbon." Jane sighed heavily in the seat next to her and Lisbon's fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Sometimes, she could swear Jane had the attention span of a five year old on a sugar high. And that was on his good days.

"What do you want me to do, Jane? We're stuck in traffic."

Jane fidgeted restlessly. "I don't know. Something." He pouted and leaned his head against the window, watching his breath fog up the glass. "Fighting crime should never be so boring."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You've been with us how long Jane? I'm sure you've noticed that crime fighting can't all be action and car chases."

"I know!" Jane sighed, "But it should be. It looks much more interesting on TV. If they portrayed it the way it really is, with all this waiting around and getting stuck in traffic and paper work, no one would want to be a cop anymore."

The Senior Agent snorted, "You don't do paper work, Jane."

"I know," Jane nodded. "And it's a good thing too; I'd die of boredom. Just watching you struggle through it gives me sympathy pains."

Lisbon smirked at him and rolled her eyes, thankful when the cars ahead of her started moving again. She glanced down at her phone as it started buzzing and she flipped it open. "Yeah, Van Pelt? …What? They did? … You did? Who? WHAT? !" She scowled and glanced around, phone still pressed to her ear while Jane watched her curiously.

"Are you sure?"

"What happened?" Jane asked, keen blue eyes riveted to the agent's face. "Something good? Is it interesting?"

Lisbon sent him a venomous glare and shushed him. "Of course, of course. No sense keeping him in there any longer than we need to." She sighed, "Jane and I'll head back over there." She snapped the phone shut and glared at it for a moment before clipping it back to her belt.

Silently, Lisbon swore. Why couldn't Van Pelt have called just fifteen minutes earlier when they were still in the parking lot of Celia's office? Why?

Jane was practically bouncing in his seat. "Are you finally letting Dr. Reid go? Did the FBI get the footage? What happened? Who was it? Was it her agent? Because I told you, Lisbon, soulless…"

"Jane!" Lisbon slammed her hand against the wheel to shut him up. "Seriously, calm down."

He pouted, "Well, tell me what happened then."

She sighed, ignoring him for the moment and making a sudden turn.

"Whoa!" Jane grabbed onto the handle above the door and swayed in his seat while Lisbon maneuvered the SUV expertly away from on-coming traffic and managed to turn them around. "What are we doing?"

"Going to arrest Celia Jorge; we've got her face on the security tapes from the hotel, breaking into Dr. Reid's room."

Jane grinned. "I told you, Lisbon. I told you he was innocent."

"Alright, Jane, I get it. You were right."

"I always am."

Lisbon scowled, "Seriously, shut up, or I will not only shoot you, but I'll throw you into traffic after I do."

Jane thought about that for a moment, "Hm. Your threats are getting more violent, Lisbon. Did you switch to Decaf without telling anyone?"

She sent him another death glare and he just smiled at her, eyes sparkling, as he settled back in for the drive back to Celia Jorge's office. He felt vindicated, if it were really right to feel that way when a woman's life had been taken, but couldn't help but think there was something missing.

Why would Celia kill Lila? Aside from the half a million dollars she gained from the life insurance policy, there wasn't much. And Jane had a feeling that policy was really more a red herring than anything else. So what was her motive behind the brutal murder? Just like that, his grin fell and he stared at the river of traffic lights, wondering what he had missed and where.

**~/.\~**

Reid's back was starting to ache and his legs were feeling numb. He'd gotten up a few times and stretched, but mostly, he just sat in the uncomfortable chair, waiting and wondering and thinking. It was strange how tired he could grow of thinking when most of the time, his mind was his solace. His one true escape. Not now, though. Now, his mind felt more like a nightmarish prison, constantly replaying the scene he'd walked in to upon arriving at Lila's house. Picking apart everything he had done and that he hadn't done, wondering if there had been anything he could do to prevent her from being hurt. To protect her like he was supposed to.

He wasn't exactly sure how long he'd been in the interrogation room, sitting and thinking. He'd stopped bothering to keep track of the time a while ago. But he was grateful that they hadn't taken him back down to one of the holding cells again. It was cold and dark down there and he was really and truly alone. At least here, he could see agents and cops and interns bustling around busily and he could pretend he wasn't alone.

The door was suddenly pushed open and a young, smiling redhead greeted him. He wasn't sure what her name was, but he knew she was one of the CBI agents that worked with Jane and Cho and Lisbon.

"Hi, Dr. Reid, I'm Grace Van Pelt." She greeted him, her smile sweet and a little bit naïve if he were being honest. He remembered when he had been like that. In fact… in all honesty, he sometimes still was. But after the incident in Georgia, he'd been less naïve, more cautious, paranoid and sometimes downright cynical.

He weakly returned her smile, "You can call me Spencer… or Reid, if you want." He shrugged absently.

Her smile broadened and Reid decided he liked the young woman, though… young wasn't exactly right. She was probably his age, if not a bit older. "Spencer then," she nodded. "I always liked that name."

He managed a more sincere smile that time, "Thanks. Uh… did something happen? Are Agent Lisbon and Jane back yet?"

"Oh, no, they're still with Lila's agent, but I do have good news." She practically beamed then. "You're friend, Garcia? She got the hotel to send us the security footage and we found Celia Jorge breaking into your hotel room earlier this morning so… you're free to go." She smiled again and Reid sat there for a moment, staring at her.

"Celia? She… she put the knife in my hotel room?" Reid asked incredulously. That made no sense. Why would she kill Lila? She had seemed so close to her; they'd been friends. At least, he thought they'd been friends. And he liked to think he was a fairly decent judge of character most of the time…

Van Pelt's smile fell a little, "She did. It looks like she's Lila's killer…"

Reid sat in silence for a long moment, dumfounded.

Van Pelt pressed her lips together, "Do you know Celia well?" she asked gently, carefully.

Reid blinked, "Uh… not well, no. We met several times though; she seemed like a nice woman."

Van Pelt nodded, recalling her previous conversations with the agent. She had seemed upset, kind, gentle and even compassionate. It didn't track that she would be a killer or that she would frame Reid for it of all people. But the video footage didn't lie. "Sometimes, you just never really know people, you know?"

Reid nodded absently, "Yeah…"

"Well…" Van Pelt cleared her throat. "Morgan and Prentiss are waiting outside and the rest of your team should be landing soon, so you're welcome to stick around and see if you can help. It's getting pretty late though…" she trailed off.

"I'll stay a while. My team's probably going to show up here anyway… And it's not like I'm getting much sleep lately." He stood and took a breath, offering Van Pelt a shaky but genuine smile and followed her out of the interrogation room gratefully, glad at least that he didn't have to worry about proving his innocence any longer.

**~/.\~**

The receptionist looked up when Lisbon and Jane came back through the lobby and started to greet them but Lisbon flashed her badge in the woman's face and kept going without a word. Jane grinned at the confused woman and hurried after her, that excited light dancing in his eyes.

They could hear voices murmuring agitatedly in the office and Lisbon sighed heavily. She'd been hoping that Harvey Bulkwright had gone by now; she really didn't want to have to talk to him again after the conversation they'd just had.

This time, instead of barging in, Lisbon knocked on the door and waited impatiently. "Miss Jorge, it's Agent Lisbon. We need to speak to you. Now."

The voices on the other side of the door stopped and there was a long pause before Harvey Bulkwright's angry face appeared at the door, "Look, Agent, we've answered all of your questions and it's nearly nine o'clock at night. Surely this can wait until morning?"

Lisbon's jaw was tight, "It could, Mr. Bulkwright, if it didn't involve murder and an innocent man being framed for it."

Harvey scowled, "You've already been here once, now I insist that you leave."

Lisbon glared at him, "This isn't your office; you don't have the right to make me leave and I am a State Agent, Mr. Bulkwright. Step aside. I need to speak to Miss Jorge."

"About what?" Harvey demanded.

"I don't think that really concerns you." Lisbon snarled, staring the man down with flashing green eyes. He muttered under his breath angrily and stepped aside with painful slowness. Lisbon didn't even bother giving him another look as she stepped inside and spotted the agent across the room, sitting down now, looking confused.

"Agent Lisbon, can I help you?" she asked curiously, her voice tight. She licked her lips nervously and tried to meet Lisbon's eyes, but her gaze kept swiveling away after only a second or two.

"Yes, you can. Can you explain why hotel security footage caught you sneaking into Dr. Reid's hotel room this morning while he was out?" Lisbon asked, her eyes never wavering off the nervous woman.

Celia's mouth fell open slightly and all the blood drained from her face. "I… I d-don't… I have no idea… I-"

Jane frowned, watching her have some sort of mini-seizure or stroke at her desk and Lisbon scowled, moving around behind her and pulling her cuffs off her belt. "Stand up, Miss Jorge. You're under arrest."

**~./.\~**

Morgan and Prentiss were sitting in the bullpen with Cho and Rigsby, talking quietly.

"So, this guy went from just killing people to playing some twisted game with Jane?" Prentiss raised a brow, glancing toward Morgan. "Really?"

Rigsby nodded, "Yeah. I mean, he killed other women after… y'know, but not as often."

"And for a couple of years he didn't kill anyone at all… not unless they were a threat." Cho nodded.

Morgan frowned, "Sound familiar?"

"Eerie is more like it." Prentiss murmured. "Except, it's not the same. Red John killed eight women before going after Jane's family, right? By that time, killing isn't as fun, remember? So, when that interview aired, he wasn't just angry, he found a new opportunity to do something different."

"And now, he's got someone to play with." Morgan mused. "Someone smart enough and driven enough to actually catch him. It's like a game to him. Cat and Mouse…"

"But which one's the cat and which one's the mouse?" Prentiss tilted her head. "Kinda hard to figure out at this point. They're both chasing the other but… for different reasons."

"What do you mean?" Rigsby frowned, "Different reasons?"

Prentiss pressed her lips together, "Jane is trying to find Red John to make him pay for what he did to his family… He wants him dead."

Cho nodded in agreement. "I think 'dead' is an understatement."

Morgan nodded, "True enough… But Red John doesn't want that."

"Want what?"

"Want Jane dead." Prentiss clarified. "He's having too much fun; plus, he's had opportunities to kill him before and he didn't take them. Because his entire goal in this is to keep the game going, to keep playing with him."

"Huh…" Cho looked thoughtful. "That makes sense."

Prentiss smirked slightly, "We don't get paid for nothing you know."

"I just talked to Lisbon," Van Pelt said, walking into the bullpen with Reid behind her looking pale and tired. "They're on the way back with Celia now."

"Great, means we can get some sleep soon." Rigsby yawned and leaned back in his chair. Van Pelt smiled and shook her head, taking a seat at a desk. Reid stood there and sighed, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

Morgan and Prentiss eyed the younger man worriedly, wondering what exactly they were supposed to say to him. "You alright, kid?" Morgan asked gently when he sat down beside him and scrubbed him hands tiredly over his face.

"Fine, I guess." Reid sighed. "Just tired and ready for this to be over." He straightened up and blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the stray tears of frustration, exhaustion and horrible, gut-twisting pain.

"It will be," Prentiss promised him. "Agent Lisbon and Jane went to arrest Celia; they'll probably question her in the morning, right?" She glanced toward the CBI agent who nodded quietly. "And the team is on the way here."

Reid smiled, "I heard." He nodded. "Guess Garcia's not very happy right now."

Morgan chuckled, "Not happy at all, kid. She told me to tell you that if you ever do something like this to her again, she'd post her Photoshopped pictures of you on Facebook."

Reid frowned, "What Photoshopped pictures?"

"The ones you aren't allowed to see and won't have to deal with if you can keep yourself out of trouble, mister." Garcia's voice echoed slightly down the hall as she marched into the LAPD bullpen, a worried look on her face, moving quickly like a colorful, yet angry, ball of energy. The rest of the team followed behind her at a more normal pace, smiling faintly when she wrapped her arms around Reid tightly.

"Are you ok?" she demanded. "They didn't hurt you did they?" she turned to frown at Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt. "Were they mean to you? Do I need to do something?"

"I'm fine, Garcia…" he assured her, giving her a sad, watery smile. "They were just doing their jobs. It's alright."

The technical analyst grumbled under her breath, frowning at the CBI agents. "Fine." She sighed. "But I'm warning you CBI people… if you do one more thing to hurt my baby, I'll make your lives hell."

Rigsby blinked, looking somewhat intimidated by this colorful, up-front woman. Van Pelt smiled and nodded and assured her that nothing else would happen and Cho looked… well, like Cho always looked. Stoic and unruffled by even the overly-loud personality of the technical analyst.

"How are you, Spence?" JJ asked quietly, giving him a gentle hug and patting his hair motherly.

"I'm exhausted and I'm angry…" Reid sighed. "But I'm fine, JJ, really."

She sighed, nodding and taking a seat across from them. Hotch and Rossi remained standing, both looking around the LAPD with frowns. They hadn't been here in a while, but not much had changed. They'd even seen a few officers that they'd worked with before.

The Unit Chief nodded to the CBI agents, holding his hand out to Rigsby and Cho.

"I'm Aaron Hotchner," he introduced himself. "This is Agent Rossi, our Media Liaison, Agent Jennifer Jareau and our Technical Analyst, Penelope Garcia." He motioned to all of them briefly.

"Wayne Rigsby," Rigsby offered the man a somewhat dry smile and shook his hand, glancing at the other agents and nodding a greeting to them briefly. "This is Grace Van Pelt and –"

"Kimball Cho." Cho shook Hotch's hand, meeting his steady gaze with one of his own.

"Your boss isn't back yet?" he asked curiously.

"No, but she's on her way. She arrested Celia Jorge." Van Pelt explained, pressing her lips together.

"She'll be here any minute now." Rigsby added, "They just called a few minutes ago."

"Good…" Hotch trailed off, his eyes falling to Reid. The younger man looked like hell. Pale, hair and clothes rumpled, dark circles under his eyes. He even look a little thinner if it were possible to look so emaciated after only three days. He wondered if the kid had even eaten anything at all.

"You understand we're not here to interfere with the investigation, right?" Hotch wanted to make sure that they were clear on that. "We're just here to help Reid."

"Absolutely," Van Pelt nodded. "We totally understand that. And Dr. Reid is free to go of course, but I'm sure Lisbon wouldn't mind if he wanted to stay for a while," she glanced to the younger man. "See if he can help maybe."

"I think that's a good idea." Rossi spoke up. "If it's alright with you, maybe we'll all stay. At least until Agent Lisbon gets back."

The CBI agents glanced at each other, uncertain, and nodded slowly. "Sure," Rigsby nodded. "We're not really doing much of anything right now."

"Then we're staying." Garcia nodded, squeezing Reid's hand tightly in her own. "I've got a few things to say Agent Lisbon anyway… And I want to meet Mr. Jane in person."

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: So… Reid's out of jail, the BAU has arrived and Celia's been arrested. Why don't I think this is over yet? Oh right… because it isn't XD**

**Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Next chapter, Garcia and Jane get to meet ;P Can't wait to write that!**

**Thanks so much for all of your support!**

**Please let me know what you think! Pwetty pwease! :3**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks so much to inee, McGriddle96, Silvermoon of Forestclan, criminalxxxmindsxxxreid, pmbs1992, lovesreidforever, msdarque, W8ing4U, smiles2go, joniskpelare, SlasherrGirl, Avenacookie, kayamira, Artemis Sparks, CMSP and Lets Random for the awesome reviews! I heart you guys, seriously! I'm honestly having more fun writing this story than a lot of other fics I've written XD It's a challenge… :)**

**Also, I once again apologize for the slower updates. College is now my new #1 enemy… more specifically, Math, which has sort of always been my enemy anyway so… not really anything new. Never mind. I propose a petition to have math removed from all those who would rather deal with words than numbers. Who's with me?**

**Now, ONWARD WE MARCH! Garcia and Jane finally meet! WOOHOO!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Eleven**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

"Agent Lisbon, I swear, I did not kill Lila!" Celia protested as they led her into the LAPD, her hands cuffed behind her back. "I couldn't do that to her! This is ridiculous!"

Jane was watching her face with a frown, following closely beside them as they passed several officers on their way to the holding cell. "Miss Jorge, are you sure you don't want to talk?" Lisbon scowled at the woman.

Celia's jaw tightened, "I'm not saying anything else without my lawyer." She insisted, eyes still not quite meeting Lisbon's. The Senior Agent sighed heavily, shaking her head and approaching an officer.

"Take this woman to a holding cell. Her lawyer will be here in the morning." She passed her over to the young man and turned, swiftly walking down the hall toward the bullpen. "Say it." She muttered, not even bothering to look at Jane.

Jane blinked, looking surprised. "Say what?"

"Say that you think she's innocent." Lisbon demanded. "You've got that look on your face again Jane."

Jane sighed. It really wasn't much fun if Lisbon was beginning to be able to read him almost as well as he read everyone else. "Fine. I don't think she killed Lila."

"And I say, she did. She had motive and opportunity. And she was on that tape breaking into Dr. Reid's room; what more proof do you need? You said yourself it could've been her."

"Yes, but that was before, Lisbon." Jane insisted. "Celia doesn't have the nerve to gut someone, especially someone she knows. She's queasy and nervous and scared."

"Which makes her look very guilty." Lisbon added, frowning at the consultant.

Jane sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, guilty of planting that knife in Dr. Reid's room, not of killing Lila."

Lisbon could've shot him right there, she really could. "Jane, if she didn't kill Lila, how did she get the knife that killed her and why would she frame Dr. Reid by hiding it in his hotel room?"

"That I don't know." Jane admitted, frowning again. "But I'm sure she's not the killer. If you noticed, she didn't once argue with the accusation that she planted the knife, but she's said the entire drive back here that she did not kill Lila."

"She can't argue with video evidence, Jane." Lisbon pointed out. "Obstruction is a much less severe crime compared to murder; she's trying to save herself."

"Why bother though?" Jane asked, "She's a terrible liar, especially for an actress's agent." He chewed his lip, shaking his head to himself. "It doesn't make any sense. She didn't kill Lila."

"Again," Lisbon frowned, "If she didn't kill Lila, why frame Dr. Reid? What's her motive for that?"

"I'm not sure, Lisbon, but I'm sure she didn't kill Lila."

Lisbon swore in her mind. "How sure?" she asked, glancing sideways at him as they turned the corner and she spotted a large group of unfamiliar people standing around. Dr. Reid's team must have arrived.

Jane paused, thinking about that. "About 68 percent sure." He said. "I have a theory, but I think I may need to get the script for that new movie Lila was filming to be certain."

Lisbon groaned, "Jane, I highly doubt they're going to just hand you a script for a move that hasn't even started filming yet. Especially considering Harvey Bulkwright is the producer and I'm pretty sure he hates you."

"Meh. He's a greedy, narcissistic ass." Jane waved his hand through the air. "I can get someone to lend me a copy."

Lisbon remained unconvinced, shaking her head. "Suuuuuuuuure." She shook her head, a faint smile on her face. "Let me know how that works out."

Jane smiled, "I will, Lisbon. And once I've caught the killer, you'll be the first to know… Second, I mean."

Lisbon frowned, "Second?" she glanced up at him, her brows knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Dr. Reid will be the first. I promised him I'd let him know as soon as I figured it out. Then I'll call you." Jane assured her. "Ah, look, there's Miss Garcia!" he grinned wide and hurried passed her, entering the bullpen where he'd spotted the brightly clad technical analyst and made his way to her.

"Miss Garcia," he greeted her with his trademark wide grin and she beamed back up at him, hopping to her feet immediately, grasping his hand in a warm and familiar sort of grip.

"Mr. Jane," she eyed him up and down. "You are much cuter in person."

He laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Well… thank you. And so are you. And much, much brighter, I might add." He turned to where Lisbon was standing just inside the entrance. "And this is my lovely colleague and friend, Teresa Lisbon."

Garcia's smile fell a little and the BAU team seemed to tense, hoping that she wouldn't explode on the CBI agent and cause some huge scene. She released Jane's hand and marched over to the short, dark haired woman, planting her hands on her hips and squinting into her bright green eyes.

"So, you're the woman who arrested my Junior G-Man?" she demanded, pursing her lips threateningly.

Lisbon hated to admit it, but Garcia really was a bit intimidating. It wasn't so much her physical appearance as it was the presence she seemed to exude from every pore of her body… and that menacing twinkle in her eyes that she imagined her co-workers were probably very familiar with. "I did. I didn't have a choice; we found the murder weapon in his hotel room and he has a clear motive."

"But Reid isn't a killer." Garcia pushed. "You know that."

Lisbon sighed, "You know Dr. Reid, Miss Garcia, I don't. Until I got this case, I'd never met him before. I can't make a judgment based on the few encounters we'd had. He was close to Lila, he had an apparent motive and he had the murder weapon. I had no other choice but to bring him in, it's procedure."

Garcia scrutinized Lisbon again, "But you know that you were wrong now."

Lisbon nodded, "Yes, I do. Celia planted the knife in the hotel room and Dr. Reid has been released from custody." She motioned to the younger man, who was sitting by Morgan and another blond woman.

Garcia looked ready to argue, but Reid stood up. "Garcia, really, I'm fine. It was just a misunderstanding, alright?"

The technical analyst didn't look thrilled, but she finally nodded. "Ok." She relented. "But if you hurt my baby again, so help me –"

"Garcia," another man, tall with dark hair and a somewhat severe face stepped forward. He had faint laugh lines around his eyes and mouth, but Lisbon would almost bet he hadn't smiled in a long, long time. "Let's not threaten the agents."

He held his hand out to Lisbon, "Aaron Hotchner, I'm Dr. Reid's supervisor. And this is the rest of the team; you've already met Morgan and Prentiss and Garcia… This is David Rossi and Jennifer Jareau."

She smiled kindly and nodded to them, still somewhat amazed that his team would fly all the way across the country just to help him when his girlfriend had been killed. They really were close. "Teresa Lisbon, this is our consultant, Patrick Jane." She waved to the blond man currently standing to the side with his hands shoved into his pockets. He looked, yet again, deep in thought. When Lisbon said his name he turned and grinned broadly, nodding in greeting, but said nothing else. Lisbon couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was thinking.

She cleared her throat. "Well, we're happy to have you and your team here, Agent Hotchner, but we are still lead in this investigation, I hope you understand that."

Hotch nodded, "Of course. We aren't here to interfere, we're just here to support Reid and help if you think we can."

She looked thoughtful, "You're profilers, right?" she asked, glancing toward Jane for a moment.

"Yes," Hotch nodded.

"Maybe you can help… Jane seems to think that Celia may be telling the truth about not killing Lila. We're interrogating her tomorrow morning when her lawyer arrives; would one of you mind sitting in on the interrogation. Except… Dr. Reid."

"Why not me?" Reid frowned, looking somewhat offended, though he, like Jane, appeared to be a world away from the conversation at hand.

"Conflict of interest," Lisbon explained. "We don't want her walking on some technicality."

Reid nodded, "Right, of course." He sighed and frowned, looking down at his hands. Lisbon wondered what was going through his mind; she couldn't even begin to imagine what all of the stress of the past few days was doing to the kid's mind.

"Well, to be fair, Lisbon, she won't be walking on a technicality. She's innocent. Of murder, at least." Jane interrupted.

"How do you know?" Van Pelt asked curiously. "We've got her face on the tape, Jane, she definitely planted that knife."

"Of course she did." Jane nodded, chewing his lip and looking ultimately perplexed. "The question is, why? Why would she plant the knife when she didn't kill Lila and how did she even get her hands on the murder weapon in the first place?"

"I though your other question was why frame Dr. Reid?" Lisbon raised a brow, watching the consultant with interest.

"No, I figured that one out. When we talked to her, you asked about her view on the relationship, she must've realized that you considered Dr. Reid a suspect and thought it as a perfect opportunity to cast suspicion his way. But once again, why would she do that?"

Lisbon sighed, "I don't know, Jane. We'll find out tomorrow when we talk to her. If her lawyer will let her talk." She pressed her lips together. She really wished that just once they'd arrest someone and they'd say "I did it. You caught me." It would make things so much easier for her.

"For now, let's get some sleep. I have a feeling we're going to have a long day tomorrow." She said. Jane grinned wide, "A feeling, Lisbon? Getting your own Psychic gift, are you?" she rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully in the arm.

"Shut up, Jane."

**~/.\~**

"I like them," JJ said as they stood in the hotel elevators together, waiting for their stops. "Usually, other teams like that would be offended if we just showed up out of nowhere, but Agent Lisbon seemed fine with it."

Garcia nodded, "I was surprised. I didn't even get to finish my threatening glare."

"What I don't understand is why they all seemed so sure of that Jane man's theory. Granted, we haven't met her yet, but how can he make a snap judgment like that and they all buy it?" Rossi frowned.

"He seemed pretty sure to me," Garcia said. "Maybe he's a psychic." She grinned and looked somewhat excited. "Agent Lisbon said he was a consultant."

Rossi made a face, "There is no such thing as psychics," he said defensively. "They're all con-artists."

"He's not psychic," Morgan pointed out. "He's a profiler."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, somewhat curiously.

"He said he used to pretend to be a Psychic," Prentiss explained. "But after his family was killed, he quit. Now, he's working with the CBI. He reads people and he's good from what I've seen so far; according to Cho and Rigsby, they've got the highest clearance rate in the entire Unit because of Jane."

"Used to be a psychic?" Rossi quirked a brow, looking skeptical.

"Used to pretend he was a psychic. He was a con-artist." Prentiss explained. "A damn good one according to Google."

"You Googled him?" Morgan raised a brow, smirking at the dark haired agent and she glared at him.

"I couldn't sleep last night and that story he told us… I wanted to know the rest of it. He seemed like he was in a lot of pain."

"Why?" Garcia asked, frowning curiously.

"His family was murdered after he did an interview about the serial killer, Red John." Prentiss explained. "It's sad. He did a cold reading of him on air and Red John saw it. He decided to teach him a lesson and killed his wife and daughter." She shivered. "And this guy's brutal, even by our standards."

"Red John… I remember hearing about him when he first started up," Hotch frowned. "It was around the same time as the Reaper." His eyes darkened and the other agents shifted a bit uncomfortably. They did their best not to mention Foyett around Hotch whenever possible.

"Yeah, he started killing in '98." Morgan said, remembering their conversation from the coffee house. "Reid said we have the file."

"We do," JJ said, "I remember Strauss handing that one over to me in case we were ever called in."

"We weren't," Hotch said. "And I doubt we will be. Red John's only killed out-of-state once, in Nevada, and the field office handed it over to the CBI. He's inside California State jurisdiction and I'm sure the Attorney General wants the CBI to solve this one. It's bounced around a lot since he started."

"This is us," Garcia and JJ announced as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

"See you in the morning," JJ called as they headed off down the hall and the elevator started moving again.

"So he went from being a fake psychic, to being a consultant with law enforcement?" Rossi asked, frowning still.

Prentiss nodded, "Agent Lisbon's team has the case and he wants to find Red John. And… apparently, Red John wants him to keep looking. He's changed from his standard MO a lot in the last few years. He's involving other people, playing head games… He's enjoying having someone to challenge him."

The elevator stopped and Hotch and Rossi said goodnight, leaving Prentiss, Morgan and Reid alone in the elevator. Prentiss eyed the team's youngest member and sighed. "Reid, you're being really quiet." She said gently. "Are you alright?"

Reid didn't respond at first, that faraway look still lingering in his eyes. As the elevator stopped, he stepped out quickly. "I'm fine Prentiss," he said, his voice sharp and harsher than usual. Prentiss flashed back to years ago, right after the Hankel incident in Georgia and fought back a wince. "My girlfriend's dead and the killer may or may not be behind bars, but I'm absolutely wonderful."

He swallowed roughly and rushed off down the hall to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Prentiss sighed, "I didn't mean to upset him."

"I know, Emily." Morgan squeezed her shoulder gently. "He's going through a lot, it's not you."

She scoffed, shaking her head. "It always seems like it's me." She told him. "Even after all these years, I sometimes think he still thinks of me like some intruder."

"You aren't an intruder, Prentiss." Morgan assured her. "Sure it took some time to adjust after Elle left, but she made her own choices and you are part of this team and this family. You have been for a long time. Reid knows that. He's closer to you than you think. And trust me, you aren't the only person he's ever done that to."

Prentiss didn't look convinced, "I bet he's never done that to you or Hotch."

"And you're wrong. I think JJ and Garcia are the only ones he hasn't blown up on like that before." Morgan said, eyes darting to Reid's door as they passed. "It usually takes a lot to set him off, but when Reid gets upset, he'll definitely let you know. But he'll also forgive you. And considering he's not upset with you, he'll probably end up apologizing once he gets his head back on right."

**~/.\~**

Reid leaned against the door of his room and clenched his eyes shut. He'd been doing his best to hold it together since the rest of the team had shown up, but he felt like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He appreciated that they were willing to do so much to help him, but he just wanted to be alone. The numbness from finding Lila's body had faded a long time ago, but the real pain was still lingering somewhere in his chest.

He'd been doing his best to numb the pain again, to make it disappear and shove the memories out of his head, or at least conjure up the pleasant ones, but it just wasn't happening. All he could see was Lila's body, bleeding and torn and mangled. He hated it and it just kept revolving around in his mind, like it was mocking him. Telling him that he hadn't gotten there soon enough, that he hadn't protected her like he was supposed to. That he deserved this pain because somehow, it was all his fault that Lila was dead.

He moved away from the door, his hands shaking slightly, and grabbed the bottle that he'd opened earlier, feeling his insides tighten just a bit as he thought back to his conversation with Jane earlier. He could imagine the consultant drinking himself into some alcoholic stupor. And he didn't want that to happen to him, but alcohol was a better option than narcotics. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

In reality, he was just replacing one poison for a less potent one. But he didn't care. He would rather drink himself blind than go back to Dilaudid. And besides, it was only a few drinks, really. What would they hurt? A little voice in his mind told him that it was a few drinks more than he'd ever drank in his life and he knew that was true to. He had never been much of a drinker; honestly, he didn't care for beer and he didn't like hanging around in bars. Which was fine. He'd never needed nor wanted the burn of alcohol to drown out his pain.

And that wasn't really what he was doing anyway. He was simply trying to take the edge off of his pain. Pain that felt so real it was hard to believe it wasn't physical. He tipped the full glass back and downed most of it in one gulp, wincing slightly and closing his eyes at the burn that was beginning to radiate throughout his body, starting with his chest and moving down. It was a sensation of feeling that made him forget all about Lila's open, lifeless eyes accusing him of not being there. It made the world tilt just a little more back toward normal for a moment and that's exactly what he needed.

He found himself thinking about Elle for some reason… About the night he'd gone to her hotel room to find her drinking. At the time, he hadn't approved of it. They'd been working a case and she was drinking. But now, he had a better understanding of her reasons. Now he realized that she'd needed that release, that escape, as much as he did now. He couldn't blame her for it. It felt much better than the aching, empty pain that was clawing at his insides.

He poured another glass. And then another. Before he realized it, the bottle was empty and it was after midnight. He was tired and the room was spinning around, but he felt better than he had in what felt like a long, long time. It was amazing how agonizingly long three days could really be when a person was suffering, he thought.

He stumbled as he made his way back to the bed and somehow managed to get out of his pants. The shirt gave him more problems and he eventually just gave up, leaving the partially unbuttoned dress shirt on and lying back against the mattress, closing his eyes and throwing the pillow over his face. He didn't even bother pulling the blanket back, laying on top of it and waiting for the darkness to overtake him again so that he could sleep, preferably without nightmares.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Well… that last bit was pretty heavy stuff. But I hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Once again, sorry for making you wait so long! It's frustrating to have math homework and writer's block at the same freakin' time.**

**Let me know what you think! Please review! Also –YAY! I've got over 100 reviews on this! That makes me very happy! XD You guys rock! Thanks so much!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks so much to inee, MadamShinigami, Serpa. Sas, Artemis Sparks, McGriddle96, Lets Random, SlasherrGirl, rya13, msdarque, criminalxxxmindsxxxreid, pmbs1992 and Silvermoon of Forestclan for the reviews! You guys are amazing and I loves you! :D**

**And I have good news: I've had a revelation! Meaning… Jane and Lola finally revealed to me who the killer is! Which gives me a much clearer picture of how this whole thing is going to go down. But I'm not saying a word until the big reveal (which will eventually happen, I swear) so you'll have to sit tight for a bit longer. They've sworn me to secrecy.**

**Now… let's get back to the story, shall we?**

**OOH, who else loved Tommy on last week's Mentalist? :3 I hope they have more of him and Annie.**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Twelve**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Lisbon took a deep breath, closing her eyes and letting the warm scent of coffee fill her before she took a long, well deserved drink. "Good morning, Lisbon!" Jane popped up suddenly at her side. "Dr. Reid and the rest of his team are here."

She sighed, taking another long drink and closing her eyes. "I can't even have one moment to myself, can I?"

Jane grinned at her, "Don't be silly, Lisbon. You've had plenty of moments to yourself, just not many lately." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Don't be so grumpy. Once this case is over, we'll be back in Sacramento and you can sleep in your own bed until nine."

She laughed, "Since when do I get to sleep that late, Jane?"

"Since you take a vacation and clear your mind. I hear it does wonders for overworked, overstressed cops."

Lisbon pursed her lips, fishing her ringing cell phone out of the pocket on her leather coat. "Yeah, right. I'll take a vacation when you do."

Jane looked thoughtful. "That's not a fair comparison, Lisbon. I'm not a cop."

"And you never will be," Lisbon nodded, "Now shush." She pressed the phone to her ear. "Lisbon."

_"Agent Lisbon, what's this I hear about FBI agents flying in from Quantico?" _Hightower asked, her voice curious and searching. _"I don't remember asking them to join the investigation."_

Lisbon sighed, "They aren't," she assured the woman. "They're… They work with Dr. Reid, Lila's boyfriend. They flew in to show him support."

_"Showing him support wouldn't happen to include calling the hotel Dr. Reid is currently registered at and pushing them into handing over the security footage without a warrant, would it?" _Lisbon could picture the director leaning over a report – likely a complaint report – that stated exactly that and she made a face, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"I… It did, ma'am," she sighed heavily. "One of their computer analysts called the hotel and got the footage that cleared Dr. Reid."

_"And incriminated Celia Jorge, I gather."_

"Yes, ma'am, it did," Lisbon nodded crossing her fingers. Sometimes, with Hightower, she was never quite sure when she was going to get reprimanded and when she was going to be commended. The woman favored justice and convictions over sentiments of mildly high standing people and establishments. "But I can assure that to my knowledge, nothing illegal took place."

_"Nothing apparently illegal at least," _Hightower mused. _"And getting that footage did release an innocent man before he could be wrongfully charged with murder. But just so we're clear, Agent, Dr. Reid is not to come anywhere near this case even remotely. We don't need a conflict of interest technicality letting a murderer walk. His team I can allow, but make it clear that he must stay a step back at all times."_

Lisbon sighed in relief. "Absolutely," she said, "I wasn't planning on allowing him to."

_"Good…" _Hightower paused for a moment before continuing. _"I just had an enlightening conversation with a Section Chief, Erin Strauss. She wanted me to pass along a message to Aaron Hotchner. He's apparently screening her calls."_

Lisbon thought back to the previous night. Hotchner was the Unit Chief of Dr. Reid's team. Strauss would be his boss… Judging from the abruptness of their flight, he'd probably neglected to clear it through her beforehand. "What message is that?"

_"She wants him to know that the BAU jet isn't supposed to be used for non-bureau related cases or personal whims. And also, to return her calls immediately before there will be severe repercussions."_

Lisbon nodded, "I'll pass that along, ma'am."

_"Thank you, Lisbon. And tread carefully here; this case is personal for all of them, not just Dr. Reid. Try not to let them get too involved, but… don't shut them out."_

"Of course," Lisbon assured her. "I'll call if there are any more developments."

She slipped the phone back in her pocket and took a long gulp from her coffee, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Reconsidering that vacation angle, Lisbon?" Jane asked, smiling brightly at her, dipping a teabag into a cup of boiling water. He still wasn't happy with the lack of proper tea-utensils in the LAPD break room, but he wasn't about to forgo his tea in lieu of coffee, so he'd have to make due.

She narrowed her eyes, "Nope," she said, shaking her head and smiling at him. "Wondering what I was thinking when I agreed to work with you."

"Ouch," Jane feigned offense. "That hurts, Lisbon, really. Good one."

**~/.\~**

Morgan sat at one of the empty desks beside Agent Cho and Agent Rigsby, watching Reid, who hadn't sat down since they'd arrived at the station. He had dark purple circles under his eyes, he was even paler than he'd been the night before and it didn't look like he'd combed his hair at all. His clothes were even crumpled, like he'd slept in them. And his usually bright, expressive hazel eyes were dull and a little bit bloodshot, but he hadn't really said anything other than "Good morning," to any of them.

Agent Lisbon came bustling into the bullpen holding a cup of coffee, looking tired and somewhat aggravated. "They're bringing Celia up from the holding cell," she announced. "Her lawyer's on his way. Which one of you is going to sit in on the interrogation?" she asked.

They'd talked that morning, discussing which one of them would do the profiling during her interrogation. Reid, JJ and Garcia were automatically out, which left Hotch, Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss. Eventually, they'd settled on Rossi. He stepped forward, "That would be me,"

"Alright, Jane you and Agent …Rossi?" she paused and waited for Rossi to nod in confirmation, "Go wait in the Observation Room. I need to speak with Agent Hotchner." She looked meaningfully at the Unit Chief and led him into the office she had essentially commandeered for this trip and closed the door quietly behind her.

She leaned against the desk and studied the older man. He looked exhausted, understandably, but there was more to it than that. He looked weary and in desperate need of a break and more than two hours of sleep. She recognized a sort of sadness in him that she'd only seen before in Jane, and more recently, Dr. Reid. Though, with Dr. Reid it wasn't quite so obvious yet, just a lingering, sad look in his eyes.

"I got a call from my boss this morning," she began with a heavy sigh. She could already see Hotchner's brows knitting as he puzzled together what was going on in his head. "And she got a call from Agent Strauss; I'm assuming she's _your _boss."

Hotch nodded and straightened up. "Yes," he sighed. "I… I should have warned you about that."

Lisbon crossed her arms, nodding. "Yeah, that would've been nice. She wanted you to know that the jet isn't supposed to be used for personal reasons… And to call her. Right now."

A faint smile touched the man's lips and Lisbon got the feeling that smiling was something he didn't do very often anymore. She watched him pull out his cell phone and turn it on, flipping through the contacts and smiled sympathetically back before pulling the door open.

"And Agent Hotchner?" she paused at the door, turning around to look back at him. "You've got a good team out there," she nodded toward the agents still gathered in the bullpen.

He nodded, holding the phone in one hand and following her gaze. "So do you."

**~/.\~**

Section Chief Erin Strauss was sitting in her office, glasses perched on the tip of her nose as she read over case reports when her phone rang and she snatched it up. "Agent Hotchner it had better be you on the other end of this call," she threatened immediately.

She heard a heavy sigh and then Hotch's voice came over the speaker. _"It is, ma'am,"_

"Finally. Was there any particular reason you didn't answer any of my phone calls in the last twelve hours, Agent?" she demanded, sitting back in her seat and pushing her glasses up her nose impatiently.

_"…Not really, no,"_ Hotch admitted honestly. _"I can only say that there were exigent circumstances, ma'am and I was more concerned with the welfare of my agent than I was returning phone calls."_

Strauss sighed heavily, "Agent Hotchner, having one of your agents arrested is not exigent circumstances. It's unfortunate, but that's hardly an emergency. And it's definitely _not _reason enough to take the BAU jet all the way to Los Angeles."

Hotch replied slowly, thinking through his argument before saying anything else. "_I understand that, ma'am. It was poor judgment on my part, but at the time, I didn't feel we had any other options. Agent Reid had been wrongfully arrested and he needed us."_

Strauss frowned and looked around her office, at the plaques and photos that hung neatly on the walls. She pursed her lips. "I understand that you were concerned about Agent Reid. I was informed that his girlfriend is in fact the victim… but that still doesn't merit the use of a bureau sanctioned jet and an entire team of profilers. As I understand it, the CBI is still point in the investigation into Ms. Archer's death and that's not changing. We haven't even been formally invited."

Hotch hesitated, _"No, we haven't been, but Agent Lisbon has agreed to let us help in any way that she feels we can. Agent Reid, of course, won't be assisting in any formal capacity, but he's still technically on vacation."_

"Mhm," Strauss nodded thoughtfully, her eyes lingering for a moment on a photo of her children. "There will be repercussions when you return, Agent Hotchner."

_"_When_ we return, ma'am?" _Hotch sounded confused, if a little hopeful.

"Yes, when you return," Strauss nodded. "I've already approved your entire team's week of vacation. Do you understand?"

_"I think so, ma'am,"_

"Good. Officially, you and your team are not acting in official capacity whatsoever while in California for the next seven days. What you chose to do with your vacation time is in no way my business, are we clear?"

_"…Yes, ma'am."_

"I don't need to remind you that this could reflect very poorly on the bureau if we're seen pushing our way into cases we have no business poking our noses into, Agent. Once those seven days are up, I expect you and your team to be back in Quantico, working on cases we have actually been invited in on."

_"Absolutely," _Hotch sounded half-unsure of exactly what had just happened. He'd expected a much more severe reprimand from the Section Chief.

"Agent Reid, of course, can take an extended leave," she continued. "But the rest of you will be back here by the end of your 'vacation'."

_"Yes, ma'am," _Hotch's voice betrayed his relief.

"And Agent Hotchner…" Strauss paused, sliding closer to her desk once again and peering down at the report she'd been reading. "Next time something like this happens, fly commercial."

Hotch let out a dry, humorless chuckle. _"I'll keep that in mind."_

**~/.\~**

Reid's head was pounding dully and he wished that he'd thought to grab his sunglasses from his suitcase that morning. Not that it would've been much help. He was certain the team would ask a lot of questions if he wore them inside a building, but the fluorescent lights weren't doing anything to help the throbbing that seemed to radiate from his skull and through his entire body.

He followed the other agents to the Observation Room, unhappy that he wasn't allowed to sit in on the actual interrogation. At least Agent Lisbon had agreed to let him watch with the others.

Rossi and Lisbon were already inside, sitting across from Celia and her lawyer, a tall, gruff looking man in an expensive suit. Jane grabbed Reid by the arm and tugged him to a secluded alcove, muttering, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Reid cast a confused look at the others before stumbling along behind Jane, "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice nervous and slightly tight. He really didn't feel up to talking much with anyone at the moment but Jane seemed to be the kind of person you couldn't really say no to. And if you did, well, he'd ignore you.

Jane paused, pursing his lips and studying Reid's face, "You've been drinking," he said flatly. It was a blunt, unquestionable statement and his voice was level, serious. More so than it had been any of the previous times they'd spoken.

Reid sighed and looked at the ground, rubbing his eyes tiredly and nodding. "And?"

"And?" Jane raised a brow, "Dr. Reid, I told you yesterday, this is not a road you want to go down. Ever." Jane took a breath and swallowed, stepping in close and looking around for a moment, pressing his lips together and speaking in a low, careful voice. "Listen, I understand exactly what you're going through right now, Spencer, I do. I've been exactly where you and it's a dark, painful place to be."

Reid shut his eyes, trying to ignore the words the other man was saying. He knew Jane was right, but at the moment he didn't really care. "It's better than the alternative," was all he said in reply.

Jane sighed heavily, "Maybe it is, for now. But replacing one addiction for another is just as unhealthy, even if alcohol is legal and narcotics aren't," he licked his lips and frowned, a pained look flashing in his eyes before he expertly shoved it away. "After my wife and child were murdered, most of my days were nothing but one long tunnel of booze and self-pity. For months, Doctor, I didn't leave my house. I didn't return phone calls, I canceled all of my sessions with my clients…" he paused, his throat tight and looked down.

"Until one day I just… snapped. It was too much to deal with and I lost it," he was speaking slowly, quietly, looking over his shoulder with a somewhat paranoid glint in his blue eyes. "I just went a little crazy. I broke all the mirrors in the house, smashed the TV, put a hole in the kitchen wall and punched in two windows. I nearly bled to death and I honestly didn't care." There was a dark, somber light in his eyes as he looked back up and locked gazes with Reid.

"I was in a state hospital for a few months, recovering," he looked away again, like he was ashamed to admit anything of what he was saying. Reid listened in silence, unsure of exactly how to react. He could tell that Jane wasn't a man used to baring his soul or emotions, especially to someone he barely knew.

Jane cleared his throat and took a breath, "And that's not something anyone should ever have to go through," he said, his voice rough from what Reid guessed were held off sobs. "Especially not when all of this guilt on your shoulders shouldn't be there. Lila cared about you, Doctor, and you cared about her. She wouldn't want you blaming yourself and drinking away the pain. Trust me, it does get … well, not better, but easier to deal with. Eventually, you'll stop hurting so much and you'll remember how to breathe again."

Reid wondered how Jane knew his chest was so tight sometimes he couldn't quite get air to his lungs, but realized that he of all people would understand this pain. He looked down at his hands and spoke, "I don't…" his voice shook and he took a deep breath, feeling those stupid tears burning his eyes. "I don't have any other way to deal with this right now," he said slowly. "And I can't help but blame myself."

"I know," Jane nodded. "It's only human, but it's not your fault and alcohol isn't going to make it any better, it just makes it… numb. If you want someone to blame, blame whoever killed Lila, not yourself. Let that be what helps you cope."

Reid swallowed roughly and nodded after a moment, "You really think Celia's innocent?" he asked curiously.

Jane nodded, "I'm certain of it," he assured him. "The real killer is still out there. I can't figure out Celia's involvement in all of this, but she didn't kill Lila."

Reid glanced toward the door to the Observation Room and frowned, "How are you going to prove that?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not really sure yet," Jane paused, thinking for a moment. "But I think it has something to do with one of the movies she was in. Somehow, that's what this is all about. I just need to get all the pieces of the puzzle first."

Reid frowned, "I want to help," he insisted.

Jane glanced back at him and smiled faintly, "I was hoping you'd say that. After Celia's interrogation, meet me out front. I have a hunch I want to check out." Reid nodded in agreement and stood there for a moment, watching Jane hurry to the interrogation room before he took a deep breath and scrubbed the faint tears from his eyes. His head was still aching and his chest was still tight, but somehow he felt just the slightest bit lighter. He hoped that once they finally caught the person who had done this to Lila he'd be able to start trying to move on. Maybe.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: I know this chapter was a bit heavier than usual, but there were some yucky emotions that needed to be at least semi-sorted out and I hope I did a good job doing that. Next chapter I'll get to Celia's actual interrogation and this hunch of Jane's X)**

**Thanks so much for all the review! (And I'm sorry for the wait between updates!) Let me know what you think! Your opinions mean the world to me!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks so much to Silvermoon of Forestclan, McGriddle96, criminalxxxmindsxxxreid, Avenacookie, msdarque, Artemis Sparks, pmbs1992, SlasherrGirl, inee, nayuta, and Smiles2go for the awesome reviews! I'm really very pleased with how this fic is turning out. Thanks so much for all of your continued interest and support! It means a lot to me guys!**

**Also, if any of you reading this read my fic "The Morning After", I'm (finally) planning a sequel that will be posted after this fic is completed and there's a poll on my profile page about it for anyone interested.**

**And now, let's get back to the actual story, shall we? After all, we need to find out what Jane's hunch is and there's Celia's interrogation to cover…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

The lights in the interrogation room were dim as Jane entered, pulling the door open and grinning widely at Celia as he sat down with a cheerful, "Hi," and met the woman's eyes with a steady gaze. Her lawyer bristled, "Agent Lisbon, who is this man?" he demanded immediately.

Lisbon sighed, "This is Patrick Jane, he's our consultant, Mr. Banner," she explained.

Mr. Banner pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, "And this, Agent Rossi," he glanced toward Rossi, who was sitting back in his chair, hands folded across his stomach looking relaxed. "He's a profiler?" Banner frowned, "So what exactly do you need Mr. Jane for?"

"Well, she needs me to tell her when she's got the wrong suspect," Jane explained easily. Lisbon shot him a venomous glare and kicked him under the table. He jerked and shifted, wincing, but continued anyway. "Like your client here, Ms. Jorge." He smiled at Celia again and scooted his chair around a bit so that he was closer to her.

"You didn't kill Lila, did you?" he asked gently, smile still in place as he glanced toward the window where the others were all watching.

Celia hesitated, brows knitting slightly as she glanced toward her lawyer, "No, I told you," she said slowly, "I could never kill her."

Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned forward, fighting the intense urge to strangle Jane and sighed, "Miss Jorge, if you didn't kill Lila how did you get the murder weapon? And why did you break into Dr. Reid's hotel room to plant it there?"

Celia opened her mouth but Banner leaned forward, putting a hand on her arm to stop her, "Now wait a moment, Agent Lisbon, did you actually _see _the knife in Celia's possession when she entered Dr. Reid's room?"

Lisbon's jaw tightened, but luckily for them, they'd already anticipated that question. Garcia had enhanced the video the previous night and they could, in fact, see the bloody blade of the knife sticking out of Celia's bag while she was fiddling with the lock on Reid's door. "Yes," she said, her voice tight, "We can."

Banner narrowed his eyes, "I'll need to see that video to confirm that later," he told her, "Now tell me, are you certain that the knife is the one used to kill Lila Archer?" he raised a brow.

Lisbon sighed, "Not conclusively," she admitted, "Mr. Banner, but we tested the blood on the knife and the type matches Lila's. We're still waiting on DNA."

Banner pressed his lips together, "So you don't know for sure that my client even had the murder weapon,"

Lisbon glared at him, "Here's a question: if it wasn't Lila's blood on the knife, whose was it? And why did she put in Dr. Reid's hotel room?" she demanded, "Why lie to us when we questioned her about Lila's TV show?"

"I wasn't lying!" Celia protested, frowning.

"Celia –"

"No, wait," Celia waved Banner off, sighing and closing her eyes. "I didn't kill Lila, Agent Lisbon, I swear. I-I couldn't have. And I can prove it. When Lila was killed I was in a meeting with Lewis Danvers; he had a script he wanted Lila to read." Celia's voice cracked and she took a deep breath before continuing. "You can call him and ask him if you want. There's no way I killed her."

Lisbon frowned, tilting her head, "Even if that's true, Celia, you still had the murder weapon. How did you get it and why did you put it in Dr. Reid's hotel room?"

Celia pressed her lips together, shaking slightly, "I…" she hesitated, "I don't know."

Banner sighed heavily, "Agent Lisbon, Miss Jorge is under a lot of stress, her client was murdered and now she's being harassed by the police. She's upset and needs time to think and grieve."

"Grieve?" Jane frowned, glancing at Banner with a frown, "Why? She and Lila weren't even close. Sure she put on a show, letting everyone believe that she was Lila friend; it's her job to do that." He turned to stare at Celia, "But you were jealous of Lila, weren't you?" Jane asked, leaning forward, only a few inches away from Celia. "You practically hated her."

Celia shifted uncomfortably, "That's absurd."

"Is it?" Jane raised a brow, glancing toward Lisbon and Rossi. Rossi was watching him curiously, wondering how he'd picked up on the slight edge to Celia's voice and the way her eyes shifted every single time Lila's name was mentioned. "I don't think so," he said, shaking his head. "You hated her. You wanted her life, her fame, her looks. You wanted men to chase after you the way they did Lila."

Celia's lips became a thin, tight line on her face and she glared at Jane with fiery eyes. "Shut up, that's not true."

"Of course it is," Jane said. "You hated Lila and you wanted to kill her, didn't you? Maybe you even thought of a way to do it, the perfect plan. The fact is, Celia, you're just a bitter, angry woman hiding behind this timid, uncertain, fearful woman. You'd have killed Lila if you'd gotten the chance, you were just waiting for the right moment,"

"Ok, FINE!" Celia's hands slammed down on the table, making Banner jump in his seat, staring wide-eyed at his client as she glared daggers at Jane's pleasantly smiling face. "Maybe I was jealous, maybe I did want to wipe that smug, arrogant little smile of that bitch's face, but that doesn't mean I killed her!"

Rossi raised a brow and leaned forward, glancing at Jane for a moment, who looked very pleased with himself. "Miss Jorge," he frowned at her, "If you didn't kill Lila then can you explain exactly how you got the knife that killed her?"

Celia swallowed and sighed, "I found it," she admitted finally.

"Celia," Banner cut in and she scowled at him, narrowing her eyes and he stopped, obviously having not seen this side of the woman before.

"It was in my office, shoved behind a painting. I wouldn't have found if I hadn't decided to move it from the wall and I… I panicked," She looked thoughtful, "I thought someone was trying to frame me and I remembered that you said something about Dr. Reid when we were talking and it just seemed so perfect so… that morning before I met you at the station, I took the knife and I put it in Dr. Reid's hotel room."

Rossi raised a brow, "Seems a little thin, Celia," he told her dryly. "Why not just take the knife to the police instead?"

"Because I knew they'd suspect me!" Celia scowled at Rossi, "I'm not an idiot,"

"Apparently you are," Lisbon frowned, "Instead of turning over evidence in a homicide, you used it to frame an innocent man and made yourself look even more suspicious."

Celia sighed, "I know it looks bad, but I did not kill Lila. I couldn't have. I told you I was –"

"I know, you were in a meeting," Lisbon nodded impatiently, flipping the folder shut and standing, "We'll check on that alibi. In the meantime, someone will be here to formally charge you with Obstruction and we'll have more questions later, I'm sure."

Her eyes slid to Banner and she frowned, "I'd also considering dropping the lawyer, he's not doing you much good if you won't let him help you."

**~/.\~**

Reid was standing close to the glass, eyes wide, fists tight as he listened to the interrogation. He'd liked Celia, hell, Lila had thought she was a friend. To hear her talk like that about her sent waves of crashing anger through his body.

JJ pressed her lips together and glanced at Hotch, "Do you think she was telling the truth?"

"She seemed sincere," Prentiss murmured, "It's a stretch but…" she trailed off, frowning. "It does narrow it down somewhat."

"How?" Reid's voice was hard and angry when he turned to frown at the rest of the agents in the room. "How does it narrow anything down if she's innocent?"

Prentiss looked down and sighed, "At least we know that if she's telling the truth, whoever did kill Lila had access to her office to hide the knife there," she pointed out. "No one can just walk in there and hide it."

"She has a point," Rigsby said quietly, "It has to be someone who could get into Celia's office when she wasn't there. According to Lisbon, that receptionist of hers would never just let a stranger back there."

Reid pressed his lips together, shaking his head. He didn't say anything for a long moment, "I'm going to get coffee," he finally announced, pushing the door open just as Lisbon and Rossi were entering. He brushed past the two of them quickly and hurried off down the hall.

Rossi watched him go with a frown, "He's looking worse every day," he murmured, glancing toward Hotch.

Hotch nodded, "Can you blame him?"

Lisbon sighed and tossed the file onto the table behind them frowning, "What did you think?" she asked, glancing toward Rossi with tired, aggravated eyes.

"I think she was telling the truth. She didn't like Lila at all, she was hostile toward her and she definitely would've killed her given the opportunity. But if her alibi checks out…."

Lisbon sighed, "And it probably will," she muttered. "Van Pelt, find Lewis Danvers and see if Celia's story holds any water. Cho, we need a warrant for Celia's house, her office and the security footage. I need to know who came and went into that office since the murder."

Cho nodded and he and Van Pelt hurried out of the room. Lisbon turned to Hotch with a frown, "I'm going to talk to the receptionist again, maybe she saw someone acting strange. Wanna tag alone? Jane's vanished already…"

Hotch glanced to the others and nodded, "Sounds good."

Lisbon smiled and turned to Rigsby, "We should get the warrants in a few hours; when we do, you, Cho and Van Pelt head out to search and I'll get the footage sent to Garcia," she glanced at the woman standing in the corner with her arms folded tightly against her chest and Garcia nodded.

"Got it, boss," Rigsby nodded, glancing toward the other agents, "Is it alright if they help us out?"

Lisbon glanced at Prentiss, Morgan, JJ and Rossi and knew that even if she said no, they'd still go. "As long as Dr. Reid stays out of it," she told them. "I know he wants to help, but I'm just following orders here."

"Of course," Morgan nodded, "We understand, Agent Lisbon."

"He can keep me company," Garcia smiled faintly, her eyes going to the door, wondering exactly where Reid had really gone. They all knew he hadn't actually gone to get coffee; he was a terrible liar.

"Good, Agent Hotchner," she motioned for him to lead the way and he smiled faintly, shaking his head and pushing the door open, Agent Lisbon right on his heels.

**~/.\~**

Jane led Reid out to the parking lot and his little blue Citroën. He pulled the door open and glanced at the younger man, who was staring off into space, "Dr. Reid?" he raised a brow, leaning across the top of the car slightly, "Are you okay?"

Reid blinked turned to face him, nodding absently, "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine," he lied, quickly sliding into the car without meeting Jane's eyes. Jane sighed and shook his head, climbing into the driver's seat. He knew the younger man wouldn't very well admit that he was torn to pieces inside and he let it go, buckling his seat belt and turning the car on.

"So," Reid fidgeted with his hands for a moment, "What _is _this hunch of yours anyway?"

Jane smiled, "Whoever killed Lila did it because of a movie. I thought it might've been _Redemption for the Devil_, but it's already finished filming, isn't it?" he glanced toward the young doctor and continued, "So it has to be _Crimson Tides_."

Reid frowned, "What about it?" he asked, brows scrunching together as he shifted in his seat to get a better look at Jane's face.

"Not entirely sure yet," Jane admitted, "But there's something, I'm certain. Celia might have wanted to kill Lila, but she didn't… though, she's hiding something else. Protecting someone, I just need to figure out who."

"Do you think that could be who killed Lila?"

Jane pursed his lips, "Possibly. What I do know is that Celia would have just gotten rid of the knife instead of framing you if she were only trying to help herself. There's definitely someone she's protecting."

Reid sighed heavily, shaking his head. He wondered when murder cases had gotten so complicated. He was used to solving kidnappings, serial murders, bombers … things that made sense to him. He couldn't remember very many cases where there'd only been one victim killed and several suspects who could've had motive and opportunity. It made his head hurt.

They road in silence for a while before Reid cleared his throat, "Can I ask you something?"

Jane glanced over at him and nodded, "Sure,"

"You said that it gets easier to deal with," Reid started slowly, pressing his lips together, fists tight in his lap, "When exactly does it get easier?"

Jane frowned, thinking about that one. If he were honest, he couldn't remember when it had stopped hurting like someone had ripped his insides out and instead started hurting like someone had stabbed him… Either way, it still hurt like hell. "I don't really know," he admitted, tilting his head. "It'll be a long time before it doesn't hurt like it does now though."

Reid sighed, staring out the window, "I figured as much…"

Jane watched him and wished there was something he could tell the kid that would make him feel better. Anything that would prove to him that this was all worth it, but even he didn't know that. He had no idea if hunting Red John down, seeking his revenge, would really end up being worth it in the end. He hoped it would be, but he didn't know. Not really.

Lisbon was always saying that Revenge never ended well, that Red John deserved Justice and not Vengeance. And maybe, on some level, she was right. But Red John being locked away, alive to rot in some cell wasn't his idea of Justice, it was Mercy and Red John did not deserve Mercy. Cutting him open and watching the life drain from his eyes, that was Justice. Lisbon would call it Vengeance, but Jane didn't see the difference between the two.

Thoughtfully, Jane tilted his head, "You and your team are close, aren't you?" he asked, glancing over at Reid from the corner of his eyes.

Reid's lips tilted up in a small smile and he nodded, "They're my family,"

Jane nodded, "What's wrong with Agent Hotchner?" he asked gently. He couldn't get a very clear reading on the man, he wore a mask of stone that rivaled Cho's and it was frustrating. It was nagging at the back of Jane's mind and he wanted to know.

Reid pressed his lips together awkwardly and sighed, "His ex-wife was murdered a few months ago," he admitted slowly, "He hasn't been back at work for long."

Jane frowned, "Who's taking care of his son?"

Reid blinked, glancing toward Jane curiously and shaking his head, "His sister-in-law,"

"Hm," Jane frowned, that would explain that look in the agent's eyes, it was heavy and sad but determined. "He blames himself, doesn't he?"

Reid took a breath and shifted in his seat again, "We… We're not really supposed to profile each other, but… he does. We're worried about him. Morgan thinks he came back too soon," Reid glanced out the window and chewed his lower lip.

"Agent Hotchner seems like the kind of man who needs to work to function," Jane mused, "I doubt he'd have lasted very long at home, even with his son to worry about."

Reid smiled faintly, nodding. "He practically lived in his office after his separation," he said, "But he's trying harder for Jack now."

Jane nodded, thinking for a moment. He wondered what his life would be like now if Red John had only killed Angela. Would he still be doing this? Trying to find the man who took her from them or would he do what was best for Charlotte? But it was an impossible call to make, like wondering what would have happened if he'd gotten home earlier. He honestly didn't know if Red John would've just killed him too or forced him to watch and let him live with that… And yet he still couldn't help but wish that he had gotten home earlier that night, at least been able to try and save them.

He winced and felt tears burning his eyes and he willed them away, turning into a large parking lot, "We're here," he announced, forcing a smile onto his face.

Reid frowned, climbing out of the car and looking around, "Where exactly is 'here'?" he asked.

"Harvey Bulkwright's studio," Jane told him, "I want a copy of that script… and snooping around some never hurts either."

Reid smiled faintly, shaking his head as he followed Jane to the doors. He could tell that the man was still hurting inside after what had happened to his family; it amazed him that he could devote his life to helping other people like this after all that he'd been through, even if, deep down, his reasoning was a little self-serving. He couldn't blame Jane for wanting revenge. He wanted nothing more than to see whoever had taken Lila from him dead.

He'd never felt that way before. Not when he was being held hostage in that hospital with Hotch, not when he had been kidnapped, not when he and Prentiss had been trapped in that compound. He'd wanted to do his job; keep people save and stop the UnSubs before they could do more damage but he'd never wanted them dead. He'd never wished for them to suffer, no matter how sick they were.

But now, revenge was one of the things that kept him going, kept his mind focused. All he wanted was to find whoever had killed Lila and make them pay. He wasn't really sure if the change was a good one or not, and to be honest, he didn't really care either way.

He followed Jane into the building and hoped that whatever the man's hunch was, it got them closer to solving this, because he wasn't really sure how much longer he could pretend to keep it all together before he completely snapped.

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: And… there's chapter 13. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Your opinions men the world to me guys!**

**How'd you guys like Celia's interrogation? ;) Hope it was at least somewhat surprising…**

**Don't forget to review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks so much to for the reviews! You guys are amazing and I love you all XD**

**Now, maybe I can actually get to what Jane's up to and what exactly he just dragged Reid into, huh? And possibly give the CM team some more "screen time" … I feel I've been neglecting them ever since they showed up…**

**Please review!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Jane led the way into the studio, glancing behind him at the younger man, looking around in slight awe at the large building. He smiled to himself and continued forward, frowning when a man in a dark blue uniform caught him by the arm, "Sir, you can't go in there," the guard said, keeping a grip on Jane's arm and turning him around back toward the entrance, "They're filming."

Jane made a face and jerked his arm away, huffing slightly and straightening his crumpled jacket, "Please don't put your hands on me, sir," he said in an irritated voice, glancing toward Reid, "We're here on police business. The Lila Archer case."

The guard sighed, "Mr. Bulkwright doesn't want to be bothered," he told him, "He said no one is to interrupt filming."

Reid frowned and dug his badge out, flashing it in the man's face, "Sir, I'm SSA Dr. Reid, with the FBI, and it's important that we go inside. It's regarding a homicide investigation and I can have you charged with obstruction of justice if you refuse to allow us entry."

The man hesitated, "Mr. Bulkwright –"

"We don't need to speak with him immediately," Reid cut him off, pressing his lips together tightly. "We can wait in his office for him. Just let him know we're here."

The guard eyed the badge and reluctantly nodded, "Fine, it's this way," He led them away from entrance and down a long, wide hall featuring movie posters, portraits and plaques lit from underneath with warm, glowing lights. The stopped outside of a wide door with a brass plaque reading "H. R. Bulkwright" in large, block letters.

"Just… don't touch anything," the guard warned them as he unlocked the office door and allowed them in, "I'll let him know you're waiting for him."

"Thank you," Jane smiled pleasantly at the guard as he left, shutting the door behind him. Then he turned to face Reid with a raised brow, "That magic badge really does work miracles for you Law Enforcement people, doesn't it?"

Reid shrugged, looking down sheepishly. He normally would never have done something like that, especially considering that the FBI technically wasn't involved in this case and _he _really wasn't working this case.

"You said that we needed to look around. And since I highly doubt Bulkwright's going to just hand you a copy of the script…"

Jane grinned wider, understanding now. "Didn't think you had it in you, Doctor," he mused, turning to survey the large extravagant office. There were more plaques, certificates, a college diploma and a large stack of file folders neatly in the corner of an imposing desk.

He made his way toward the folders quickly, sifting through them, muttering to himself. "Who needs all of these boring files?" he sighed, frowning as he opened the top folder and found a long, complicated financial document, followed by a list of expenses and necessities and things that apparently Bulkwright planned to use as tax write-offs.

"What is it?" Reid moved around to stand beside Jane, looking over his shoulder and reaching for the discarded papers, eyes moving down the page rapidly.

"Bills and expenses," Jane muttered, moving to the next folder and flipping it open, sighing, "Insurance policies…" he muttered, setting it aside and putting his hands on his hips. "If I were a movie script, where would I be?" he murmured to himself.

"What about in the desk?" Reid suggested, kneeling down and pulling open one of the drawers, inside he found more documents and papers, a schedule book and a handful of peppermint candies. Frowning, he closed the drawer and moved to the one bellow it, finding three large binders with movie titles. "I found it!" he smiled, pulling out the top movie script that read _Crimson Tides _on the cover. He passed the binder to Jane, who eagerly flipped it open and began scanning the pages, moving around to sit in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk.

Reid flipped the folders on the desk closed and picked up the one Jane had tossed to the side, frowning as he studied it, his brows scrunching together as his eyes moved rapidly down the page. "…Jane…" he looked up, his eyes wide as he stared at the other man.

Jane glanced at him curiously, "Hm?"

"This is a copy of an insurance policy…" he murmured, holding up a thin group of papers from inside the folder, held together with a silver paperclip. "With Lila's name on it."

Jane frowned and closed the binder, standing and taking the papers from Reid, reading over them with a narrowed gaze, "Why does he have this?" he thought out loud, tapping the papers thoughtfully as he studied them, flipping through the pages.

"Wait!" Reid suddenly snatched the papers back, staring at the document with narrowed eyes, "This isn't Lila's signature…"

"Are you sure?" Jane raised a brow, studying the younger man's face.

"I'm positive," there was an edge to Reid's voice. "Lila doesn't loop her 'L's that way." He pointed to the first letter, "And when she signs her last name, the 'A' doesn't connect to the 'r' at all."

Jane frowned, studying the signature, "So it was forged…"

Reid sighed, sitting the papers back in the folder and shutting it, "But it doesn't make any sense. Why would Harvey take out a policy on Lila's life that benefited me? _How _would he do that?"

Jane blue eyes suddenly widened as he realized what he'd been missing before, "It doesn't just benefit you, Spencer!" he said, moving around the desk quickly, snatching the binder where he'd left it and waving the younger man forward. "We need to talk to Celia again!"

**~/.\~**

Hotch squinted against the sun as he climbed out of the SUV and hurried behind Agent Lisbon. They'd had a brief disagreement about exactly who would be driving, but in the end, this was Lisbon's investigation and her SUV, so the older agent relented and took the passenger seat.

He almost smiled at the shorter woman's determined strides as they made their way to the entrance. The woman was small and didn't look like much, but from what he'd seen so far, she was one hell of an agent and she wore that gun and badge like it was a second skin.

They made their way to the receptionist and the young woman sighed and rolled her eyes, "Miss Jorge isn't here," the girl said before Lisbon could even say anything. "You arrested her last night, remember?"

Lisbon made a face. She was seriously tired of dealing with this girl. "Actually," she said, "It's _you _that we want to speak with. This is Agent Hotchner, he's with the FBI." She motioned to the man standing next to her, "We just want to ask you a few quick questions about people who've been by Celia's office lately."

The girl looked annoyed but sat up and pushed a loose string of hair from her face, "Shoot," she muttered, still sounding annoyed and tired.

Lisbon clenched her jaw and Hotch stepped forward, glancing discreetly at her nameplate and clearing his throat. "Julie," he said, keeping his voice gentle and even, "We understand that you've been dealing with cops for the last few days. Trust us, we are just as eager to get out of your hair and get this case closed as you are,"

"Yeah, well, you arrested the killer already," the receptionist, Julie, said, still clearly agitated, "So why do you need to ask more questions?" she demanded.

Lisbon scowled, "We did arrest Miss Jorge," she admitted, "But during her interrogation, she mentioned finding something in her office that she didn't put there. We just need to know if you remember anyone going into her office when she wasn't there. Anyone acting strange."

Julie pursed her lips, frowning, "No. No one goes in her office when she's not here,"

"You're certain no one came?" Hotch asked, "What about when you went to the bathroom or lunch?"

"The bathroom's right down the hall, by Miss Jorge's office and I eat lunch here," Julie insisted, "There's no way anyone got into her office without her being there."

Lisbon frowned, "Are you one hundred percent sure of that? Did anyone _try _to get in there?"

"Beside you and your insane consultant dude?" Julie asked, raising a brow and smirking at them, "No. Wait…" she frowned thoughtfully, tilting her head.

"What?" Hotch asked, frowning at the young woman.

Julie licked her lips, "Mr. Bulkwright was here a few days ago…" she murmured lightly, "He had a meeting with Miss Jorge, but she was out, in a meeting with some screen writer or something," she shrugged, "But before she went out, she told me that if Mr. Bulkwright arrived before she returned, to just let him in. He was only alone for a few minutes, but…"

Lisbon's eyes narrowed, "Thank you, Julie. Was that so hard?"

Julie made a face and rolled her eyes again as the two agents quickly left the lobby.

"If this is the last time I have to see her, it'll be too soon," Lisbon muttered as they made their way to the parking lot and yanked the door on the SUV open.

"At least we learned something," Hotch told her, pulling out his cell phone to call Rossi and update the team. "We've got a new suspect at least."

Lisbon sighed, "Yeah. Harvey Bulkwright, the rich, influential movie producer. This'll be fun."

**~/.\~**

Garcia was sitting at the table in the bullpen of the LAPD looking bored and worried, "Has anyone heard from Reid since this morning?" she asked, looking to Morgan and Prentiss.

"No," Morgan frowned, "Not since the interrogation."

"This isn't like him," JJ sounded even more worried than Garcia did, her cell phone sitting in the palm of her hand. She'd tried calling the younger man a few times and got no answer. It wasn't like Reid to ignore phone calls, but for the past few days, he rarely picked up his phone at all.

"He probably just went to clear his head," Rossi suggested, "He looked upset after the interrogation."

"Of course he looked upset," Prentiss said, "Wouldn't you?"

"But he's not answering his phone. What if something happened to him?" she demanded, her voice rising in pitch slightly as she stared at the others with wide eyes.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Rigsby said, walking back into the bullpen with Cho and Van Pelt and catching the end of their conversation. "Jane's been gone since this morning too; they're probably together."

"Doing what?" JJ asked, frowning up at the taller man.

Van Pelt smiled, "We never really know," she admitted, "Jane's always disappearing like this. He likes to go for walks and clear his head. Sometimes, he comes back with a new theory."

"And sometimes, he just comes back with doughnuts," Cho added, grabbed his jacket where he'd thrown it over a chair earlier, "What'd you find out from that Lewis guy?" he asked, glancing to Van Pelt.

She sighed, "He and Celia were in a meeting at the time of Lila's murder. There's no way she killed her."

Rigsby made a face, "At least we've got her on Obstruction. I think she knows something."

"I think you're right," Prentiss agreed, shifting in her seat, "She was still evasive even after she admitted to wanting to kill Lila."

"Search warrants came through," Cho announced, "They'll be sending you the footage, Miss Garcia."

Garcia opened her laptop and nodded, turning it on, "If there's anything to be found I'll find it," she assured them, rubbing her hands together for a moment before shifting in her seat, her eyes getting a determined look as she pulled up the footage.

"We're heading out to search her office and apartment," Rigsby said, glancing toward the other agents, "Wanna come along?"

"Absolutely," Prentiss was on her feet immediately with Morgan and Rossi right behind her.

JJ stayed seated, "I'll help Garcia," she told them, frowning at her phone again as she slid her chair closer to the technical analyst and looked at the computer screen.

"Ok," Cho nodded, "Van Pelt, you go to her apartment, Rigsby and I'll take the office." He glanced at the other agents, a little more wary to give them orders considering that they weren't part of his team.

Rossi stepped in for him, "Prentiss, you and Morgan can go with Agent Van Pelt, I'll go with Rigsby and Cho."

The two FBI agents nodded and hurried down the hall, Prentiss turned to the two woman at the computer as they left, "If you hear from Reid call us!" she ordered, "I'm starting to get a little worried…"

JJ nodded and sighed as she glanced at her empty coffee cup, looking to Garcia with worried blue eyes, "You think he's gonna be okay?" she asked.

Garcia pressed her lips together, "Junior G-man's tougher than he looks… but I don't know…" she hesitated, "He's acting weird lately."

JJ nodded and the two woman locked eyes for a moment, both thinking the same horrifying thought, but not daring to say it aloud. It would be like a betrayal to Reid to even say it. But it was hard to deny the possibility after the way he'd been behaving.

"We'll get him through this," JJ said, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than Garcia. "He's not going to do it alone."

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: Well… This chapter was actually pretty fun to write. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Chapter fifteen coming soon and we'll find out a LOT more about this insurance policy and maybe clear a few things up ;)**

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review! Your opinions mean the world to me XD**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks so much to all of the reviewers! XP You guys are awesome! I loves you peoples, you rock!**

**So… Last chapter was a bit shorter than usual, sorry about that. I was originally going to have Jane and Reid's conversation with Celia in that chapter, but I just … didn't write it. Laziness is really to blame for that one. Still, it was a decent length. (I think…) Anyway, this chapter will be longer. I think this story only has a few more chapters left, but I'm really not sure. The big climax is coming soon though ;P**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Jane led the way down to the holding cells with Reid following right behind him, glancing around anxiously as if he expected Hotch to pop up at any moment and berate him for what he had done at the studio less than an hour ago. After all, searching Bulkwright's office without his permission or a warrant hadn't been legal. Taking that script was technically theft and he wasn't supposed to use his badge to gain access to places under false pretenses and certainly not when he had been forbidden from working the case.

And now he was following Jane down to the holding cells to do the one thing Hotch had ordered him specifically not to do. Talk to Celia Jorge. He knew that what he was doing could potentially screw the case for Agent Lisbon and her team, but if he was being honest, he didn't care because there was only one outcome that he could really see clearly and that was Lila's killer on a slab in the morgue.

When they finally reached the right cell, Jane stopped and smiled pleasantly at the guard. He didn't go down to the holding cells in CBI very often; they were dark and cold and to be quite honest, they smelled awful. And the holding cells the LAPD had were no different. Narrow rows of steel doors, bad lighting and concrete everywhere. It felt almost like being in a dungeon. Though, technically, Jane supposed he _was_ in a dungeon.

"Hello, I'm Patrick Jane, this is Spencer Reid," Jane greeted the guard and his eyes went to the door of the cell he was currently standing guard on. "May we speak with Miss Jorge for a moment, please?" he asked innocently. Reid, behind him, shifted nervously and glanced behind them. He was being far more paranoid than usual.

"She's speaking with her lawyer," the guard told them, frowning at them.

"Oh, we understand that. It's fine. We just have a few quick questions and we'll be out her hair, honest," Jane insisted, "It's about the murder investigation."

The guard narrowed his eyes. He'd heard plenty about Patrick Jane and his minds games and stunts that mocked what _real _police did. He'd never met the man before, but there was a spark in his blue eyes that spoke volumes about his childish and careless behavior in the field. As far as he was concerned, the man shouldn't be anywhere near any police cases. "I think it's best if you leave her alone, Mr. Jane,"

Jane frowned, "Really, it's just a few questions," he insisted, "It's important that we talk to her as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid I can't let you –"

"You can at least ask her if she's willing to talk with us," Reid said, frowning at the guard, crossing his thin arms over his chest. "If she says no, we'll leave. But if she agrees, there are some important things that we need to speak to her about."

The guard raised a brow and scrutinized the young agent, "Who are you again?" he asked.

"Dr. Reid," he answered, his voice tight, "FBI."

The guard sighed and his brows knit together as he eyed him, looking unconvinced. But if it would get Jane out of his hair sooner, he'd do it. "Alright, fine," he sighed, turning and opening the door for them, stepping inside slightly and glancing between the lawyer and his client.

"Ma'am, Mr. Jane and … Dr. Reid have a few questions they'd like to ask. Is that alright with you?"

"Absolutely not! We are discussing –"

"Of course it's fine;" Celia cut her lawyer off, frowning at the man's bewildered expression, "Send them in."

The guard grumbled and sighed, shaking his head as he pulled the heavy door open wider and motioned for them to enter, "But I'm warning you, Mr. Jane, none of your funny business, got it?"

Jane grinned wider at the man, his eyes sparkling, "I'll be as serious as possible," he assured him as he entered, chuckling to himself as the guard grumbled again and shut the door behind them.

"What are you doing here?" Banner demanded, frowning at the two men as they sat down at the large table across from them. "Celia and I are discussing the matters of her defense and you have no right to interrupt –"

"But Miss Jorge kindly agreed to speak with us," Jane cut him off, "So I'm not infringing on anyone's rights, am I?"

Banner glared at Jane and then looked to Reid, "Who's the kid?"

Reid frowned at the remark but before he could respond, Celia spoke for him. "He was Lila's boyfriend. Sweet boy…" her eyes lingered on him for a moment and she pursed her lips, "I really am sorry for all the trouble, Spencer." She told him, her voice sounding sincere enough, though her eyes just didn't quite seem sorry. "But I didn't kill her. I swear I didn't,"

Reid's lips were a thin line as he glared across at Celia, "I don't really care," he said flatly, keeping his voice as unemotional as ever.

"Wait, wait," Banner held up his hands, looking between the two men, "He's the victim's boyfriend. He can't be in here, it's a direct conflict of interest!"

"He's not asking any questions," Jane assured him, glancing toward the younger man, "He's just observing, not participating in the investigation. I'll be asking the questions, I just have a couple of questions…"

Celia turned her attention to Jane and smiled slightly, placing her elbows in the table, "Fire away, Mr. Jane,"

He smiled at the woman, not sure whether or not her directness was refreshing or irritating. Maybe it was a little of both. One thing he was sure of was that, murderer or not, Celia Jorge was not the woman she portrayed herself to be.

"What's your relationship with Harvey Bulkwright?" he asked curiously, smiling even wider as Celia's eyes hardened and her jaw went taut.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice tighter than it had been moments ago. Reid frowned, glancing at the blond man and wondering exactly where he was going with this. Jane hadn't explained whatever it his theory was, though Reid had figured out that it had something to do with Bulkwright forging the insurance policy and Celia… But exactly what that was, he had no idea.

Jane pursed his lips, "Come on, Celia, that's the easiest question!" he told her, leaning forward, locking eyes with her. "Just tell me and we can move on to my next question…"

Celia narrowed her eyes, her jaw tight, "Why?"

"Because it's all part of my brilliantly deducted theory of why you put that knife in Dr. Reid's hotel room, CiCi; can I call you CiCi?"

"No," Celia growled, her eyes burning, "What theory, Mr. Jane? Can I hear it?"

Jane grinned wide, "Not until you answer my question," he insisted teasingly. He could feel Reid's curious eyes on him and knew that cogs and wheels in the younger man's head were spinning and turning fast as he strung together every little piece of evidence they had so far to figure out what he'd realized after seeing that insurance policy in Harvey's office. He was sure that it wouldn't take the doctor too terribly long to put two and two together.

Celia sighed, massaging her temple carefully, "Mr. Jane, I think you're going to end up giving me a migraine," she muttered.

"I get that a lot," Jane shrugged nonchalantly and continued smiling at her easily and she huffed tiredly, smirking sarcastically and shaking her head.

"Fine. We're lovers, happy?" she raised a brow at him, "As if you didn't already know that."

Beside him, Reid looked mildly shocked, his hazel eyes widening as he stared at Celia and realized what Jane had realized earlier. He turned to look at the consultant, frowning questioningly and Jane cast him a cursory glance, understanding his quiet gasp and nodding in confirmation. Reid pressed his lips together and scowled at Celia, barely managing to hold back his anger, "I'll, uh… I'm gonna wait outside," Reid finally said, standing and pushing his chair back.

Banner, who had been listening to Jane and Celia talk, frowned toward the young doctor as he left and relaxed a little bit as soon as he was out of the room, leaning toward Jane, "Look, Mr. Jane, I don't know where this is going and I hardly see how this is helping your investigation –"

"Ah, but it is," Jane assured him, grinning, "Trust me, Mr. Banner, this is going to be very helpful…" he paused and turned his attention back to Celia. "Now, Celia, you already told me how much you disliked Lila,"

Celia snorted, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the consultant.

Jane smiled, "Sorry, is dislike not strong enough? Hate then,"

Celia smirked wider and shook her head, "Your point, Mr. Jane,"

"Ah, yes, sorry. Anyway, you've already let us know how you feel about Lila Archer. You wouldn't hesitate to kill her if you had the chance,"

Banner started to say something but like in her interrogation, Celia held a hand up and cut him off, "You're dancing in circles, Mr. Jane,"

"Am I?" Jane frowned, looking down at his feet for a moment, brows knitting in confusion. "I thought I was sitting down."

She rolled her eyes, "Mr. Jane…"

He smiled, "Well, my point is… It seems odd to me that Lila would have you as a beneficiary on an insurance policy worth a million dollars if you clearly hated her as much as you claim. And of course, then I had an epiphany: Lila was a rising star. You were making a lot of money off of her, weren't you? Why kill the Golden Goose? Unless her death stood to give you gain. Lila's death not only gives you half a million dollars, but the fact that she was killed right after filming a new movie practically ensures box office success for _Redemption for the Devil_, doesn't it?"

Celia leaned back in her chair and pursed her lips, remaining silent as she stared at Jane, waiting for him to get to the point.

"And of course, you couldn't kill her by yourself anyway, so you needed a plan," Jane continued, "You and Harvey got together, took out a policy on Lila's life. As her agent you knew all of her information and had access to all of her assets. Lila never even knew about the policy. But just having you on the policy would be suspicious, so you added Dr. Reid. And then, all you had to do was wait until the movie was finished filming and Bingo! You and Harvey could get rid of her…"

Celia raised a brow, "This is very fascinating, Mr. Jane," she said casually, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hands. "But you don't have any proof of that… And even if you did, I still assure you, I did not kill Lila."

"Of course you didn't," Jane said, nodding in agreement, "You wouldn't have dirtied your hands with such a savage thing. But there was a problem with your plan… Lila got suspicious of something. That's why she called Dr. Reid, that's why he showed up when he did and found the body… That's why when you found that bloody knife in your office you were certain Harvey dearest had killed Lila without telling you. And that's why you took it upon yourself to frame Dr. Reid. You were protecting your lover just as much as yourself."

Celia scowled, "I don't know what you're talking about,"

Jane sighed, "Celia, come on, it's so obvious! But the question I have is… Did Harvey really kill Lila? Or were you just scared that he had? Because if you think about it, does it make sense for him to jump the gun and take her out when you call him and say her boyfriend, an FBI agent, is coming? Or does it make more sense that he'd back off and cover his tracks?" Jane raised a brow and Celia swallowed, her eyes widening fractionally as she considered his words.

"Ah, see," Jane grinned at her, leaning back, "I knew that'd get you. You framed an innocent man to protect another innocent man, Celia."

Celia remained silent and her lawyer just stared at her dumbly, completely unsure of what to say to her anymore. All of this new information was making his head spin. One thing was for sure, he and Celia needed to have a very long discussion as soon as Jane was gone.

Jane eyed the woman and sighed, "So, what do you think, Celia? Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"I think…" Celia took a breath and gripped the table's edge, frowning at Jane with serious, cold eyes, "That it's time for you to go, Mr. Jane."

"Alright, alright. I'm leaving," Jane smiled as he stood and threw one more glance back at Banner as he was leaving, "Mr. Banner, I just think you have a right to know… your client here is a complete sociopath." He flashed another grin as he left, leaving both lawyer and client with their mouths hanging open slightly, eyes wide, incredulous expressions on their faces.

**~/.\~**

"Nice building," Rigsby murmured as he, Cho and Rossi made their way toward Celia's office. The entire building seemed to be made of nothing other than steel and glass as it shimmered in the early afternoon sunlight and Cho squinted through his sunglasses, shaking his head.

"They spent way too much money on windows… Not enough on blinds," he muttered, his voice as deadpan as usual. Rossi chuckled and followed behind the two of them, listening as they bantered back and forth about how blinds would have negatively affected the aesthetics of the building and how too much sunlight could blind a person.

They reminded him a little bit of Morgan and Reid the way they bickered, except that he highly doubted anyone, even himself, could ever achieve as high a level of sarcastic monotone as Cho.

The young woman behind the desk sighed heavily when they walked in and Rigsby and Cho flashed their badges.

"I just talked to CBI people like an hour ago," Julie grumbled, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she spared them only a cursory glance. "Miss Jorge is still in jail and I don't know the answers to any of your questions."

"Good," Cho said, stepping closer to the desk, "Because we're not here to ask questions; we're here to execute a search warrant of Miss Jorge's office." He held up the warrant and passed her a copy of it. She narrowed her eyes and skimmed it before sighing and pushing her chair back with another grumble.

"Right this way, Agents," she waved them down a hall and led them to Celia's office, pulling out a key from around her neck and jabbing it in the lock, explaining, "We locked it up after she was arrested. Mr. Bulkwright didn't want anyone getting in and vandalizing anything or stealing something."

Rigsby nodded as they entered the spacious room, "Right, makes sense. Thanks, uh, Julie," he offered her a smile and shifted a bit awkward as she, for once, smiled back and eyed him up and down a little more thoroughly than she had before.

"Not a problem, Agent…"

"Uh, Wayne. I mean, Wayne Rigsby," he could feel his face heating and swallowed convulsively, nodding to distract himself from the growing awkwardness. "You can call me Wayne."

Julie's smiled widened and her teeth flashed for just a moment, "Well, Wayne," she laughed gently, "It was no problem…" She turned to leave and Rigsby's blush was just beginning to fade when she suddenly turned and called out again.

"Wayne…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you seeing anyone?" she asked, raising a brow questioningly as she battered her lashes slightly.

Cho coughed and Rossi smirked to himself, shaking his head as the younger man fumbled over his words, his face starting to take on that red tinge again.

"I, uh… No. No, I'm not," he said, pressing his lips together and sending Cho a venomous look as his friend coughed again to cover a quiet laugh, his lips curving up in a rare, amused smile.

Julie's grin widened to scary proportions and her eyes sparkled, "Good," she said, turning and walking back down the hall, her hips sashaying from side to side as she glanced over her should and caught Rigsby's eyes again and winked flirtatiously before disappearing around the corner.

Cho suppressed another half-cough, half-laugh and shook his head at his partner, who looked embarrassed and uncomfortable. Rigsby frowned and narrowed his eyes at Cho, "Don't say anything," he said, his voice half serious, half pleading.

Rossi chuckled and shook his head, looking around the spacious office, "That happen often?" he asked, raising a brow at Rigsby, who turned an even brighter shade of red and tried to shrug it off like it was nothing.

"About every two or three days," Cho said, his face back to its usual robotic semblance. "It's the universe telling him to stop fawning over coworkers."

"Shut up, Cho!" Rigsby growled, glaring at his friend and pulling on a pair of latex gloves, "Aren't we supposed to be looking for stuff?"

Rossi smiled and laughed to himself, murmuring to himself, "If she had been a prostitute that would've reminded me of Reid…"

**~/.\~**

Garcia muttered to herself as she went over the security footage with JJ. "This is boring," she sighed, shaking her head. "There's nothing here except Harvey Bulkwright going into Celia's office, and then Celia arriving a few minutes later..."

JJ huffed and leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand and looking every bit as bored as Garcia sounded. But if there was evidence on these tapes somewhere that could find out who had killed Lila, they were going to go over every single boring inch of it.

"I know," she nodded, "This would be so much easier if Celia had just put cameras in her office. Then we'd know exactly who put that knife there and we wouldn't have to worry… As it stands, it could've been a janitor for all we know."

Garcia tapped her fingers against the laptop's keyboard and made a face, "And that's doubtful; why would a janitor kill Reid's girlfriend?"

JJ shrugged, "Why would her agent? Or a producer? Or anyone? Lila was a nice girl, I don't get it…"

Garcia looked sad and nodded glumly, "Bad things always happen to good people… Look at poor Reid."

JJ's eyes slid toward her phone, silently wondering why Reid hadn't at least called her back yet, and nodded. "I know. He's been through more horrible things than anyone deserves. Especially someone like him…"

"It's just not fair," Garcia nodded, shaking her head and glaring at the screen. There was nothing even remotely incriminating on any of these tapes so far. She hadn't spotted the tinniest bit of suspicious behavior from any of the people going in and out of Celia office. And so far, the only time anyone went into her office without her being there had been Harvey Bulkwright…

"This isn't getting us anywhere," she grumbled, pressing her lips together tighter.

JJ sighed and smiled slightly, standing, "I'll go get us some coffee from the break room; let's take a break for a few minutes and regroup,"

"Sounds good to me," Garcia nodded, watching the liaison walk away and shutting the laptop, rubbing her tired, burning eyes. She'd never thought she'd see the day when she would be tempted to physically harm a computer, but at that moment, she was beyond frustrated with the lack of information she was receiving from the security footage.

JJ yawned to herself as she entered the break room and then stopped, frowning as she spotted the young man leaning against the counter, a distracted look in his eye. "Spence?" she asked, stepping closer to her friend and tapping him gently on the shoulder.

Reid jumped about a foot in the air and gasped, blinking and taking a moment to realize that it was just JJ. "Oh… uh, sorry, JJ… I was just… thinking," he stuttered slightly, pushing his hair out of his face and forcing a smile.

JJ chuckled softly, "When aren't you thinking, Reid?" she asked, raising a brow at her friend.

Reid blushed slightly and nodded, "Right, uh… Where's Hotch?" he asked, his voice tight and nervous as he glanced around behind her, as if he expected Hotch to just suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"He's with Agent Lisbon," JJ said, "They went to talk to the receptionist and they're on their way to Harvey Bulkwright's office now… Where'd you go this morning?" she suddenly asked, frowning at him. "We've been calling you for hours."

"Sorry," Reid pressed his lips together and looked down, "I… I must not have turned on my cell phone this morning." He apologized, pulling his phone out of his pocket and flipping it open. He _had _turned his phone on and had been ignoring all their calls. He sighed and scrolled through the list of missed calls and deleted them, looking up after a moment and forcing another smile.

JJ sighed, "Spence, you know we're all here if you want to talk, right?"

"Yeah," Reid nodded quickly, "Of course. Look, JJ, I appreciate the concern, but really, I'm fine."

JJ remained unconvinced, shaking her head and sighing as she reached into the cabinet and pulled out a cup, "I know this is tough for you, but we aren't going to let you go through this by yourself."

"I know, JJ," Reid assured her, "And thank you, but… I really just want to solve this and go home."

JJ eyed him sadly and started to say something else with Patrick Jane suddenly popped his head into the break room, his blue eyes wide and intense, "Reid! There you are! Where did you put that copy of the script?" he asked, glancing toward JJ and offering her a quick smile before turning back to Reid.

"It's in your car," Reid said absently, frowning at him.

"Terrific, thanks!" Jane started to leave and Reid stopped him, confused.

"Wait! What…" he glanced toward JJ, who was watching them curiously, "What did she say?"

Jane's smile slipped slightly and he too looked toward the blond liaison and thought for a moment before waving for Reid to follow him, "Come with me, I'll explain everything,"

JJ sighed and turned her attention back to the coffee. She hated to admit it, but it hurt just a little to see that Reid was being more open with Jane than he was with any of the rest of the team. They were his family and they had a right to know what was going on with him. Who did Patrick Jane think he was to just swoop in and drag her friend along on some half-bake scheme that could end badly if what Cho and Rigsby had been telling them was true…

She mentally shook herself. It wasn't Jane's fault. He was just trying to help and she supposed she should be happy Reid was letting _someone _in. But she'd been a whole lot happier if Reid would just talk to her.

**~/.\~**

Prentiss and Morgan knelt over a box in Celia's home office, frowning. Van Pelt was behind them, sifting through papers on her desk and sighing to herself as she came up with nothing, nothing and more nothing.

"I think this has to be one of the most boring searches we've ever conducted," Morgan sighed, shaking his head as he flipped through a large blue folder marked 'Taxes'. He had looked at more numbers and figures and schedules and lists in the past hour than he'd probably ever seen in his entire life.

Van Pelt nodded, "It's just as bad as being chained at my desk for hours looking through computer records," she sighed, tossing yet another actor's headshot and resume to the side in the ever growing pile of what they'd deemed "Useless Crap".

Prentiss smiled slightly, "They really leave you at headquarters that often?"

Van Pelt nodded, "All the time. I've been with the unit for a few years now, but sometimes… I think Lisbon still sees me as a rookie,"

"I doubt it," Prentiss said absently, "She probably just realizes that you're the best one for computer jobs. Rigsby and Cho wouldn't be able to get that stuff done as well as you."

Van Pelt smiled a bit and glanced back at the other woman, "You think?"

"Sure," Prentiss nodded, "And it does take a while before you're not 'the new girl' anymore…" she cringed slightly as she thought back to when she'd first joined the BAU. "It was a while before Hotch trusted me enough to do more field work."

Morgan grinned, glancing at his friend, "Sure, Emily, but that's because you just came out of nowhere."

"It's not my fault the paperwork got screwed up," Prentiss huffed. That still annoyed her, even after all these years. She just knew that she might have had an easier time with Hotch and Gideon if her paperwork had been filed properly.

"True. And you are a good agent," Morgan conceded, smiling slightly as he dug through the plastic box. Prentiss glanced up at him and blushed slightly, shaking her head and quickly resuming her task, pulling out a large yellow folder marked "Insurance".

Van Pelt's phone started buzzing and she glanced at it, giving the two FBI agents an apologetic look before answering it with a grin, "Hey, Craig," she smiled.

Prentiss smiled again and shook her head, looking back at the documents in the folder. "Poor Agent Rigsby," she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Morgan frowned, glancing up at Prentiss.

Prentiss looked at him and raised a brow, "Come on, don't tell me you didn't notice how he looked when Van Pelt's boyfriend called her yesterday. The man's got it bad," she smiled and glanced at the red headed agent thoughtfully, "They'd make a cute couple…"

Morgan groaned, "What is it with women and trying to fix things that aren't broken," he muttered.

"I never said anything about 'fixing' something!" Prentiss hissed, frowning at him.

Morgan rolled his eyes, "You didn't have to, you've got that look on your face. Stay out of it, Emily. Van Pelt's got a boyfriend, remember. You don't want to screw that up, do you."

Prentiss sighed, "I guess not. But they'd really be great together…" she smiled and then shrugged, "But you're right. She's got a boyfriend and I shouldn't interfere with that. She's clearly in love with the guy and I've never met him… He's probably great,"

"Exactly," Morgan nodded, turning back to the box. Prentiss glared at the top of his head before looking back down at the paper and sighing.

"Sorry," Van Pelt smiled apologetically as she returned to her seat, "We had dinner plans tonight…" she trailed off, "I forgot to tell him I was still working the case."

"Not a problem," Prentiss assured her, flipping through the folder and skimming the documents for anything incriminating. She paused and frowned after a moment, narrowing her dark eyes as she read and re-read the file beneath her fingers, "Hang on…" she held the papers out to Van Pelt, "Isn't this the insurance policy Lila took out?" she asked.

Van Pelt took it and studied for a moment, nodding, "It is… But, Celia said she didn't know about it," she frowned, her brows knitting together, "This doesn't make sense."

"It's starting to," Morgan said, frowning and holding up a sheet of paper that had been buried deep in the container. He passed it to Prentiss, who skimmed it quickly and gasped, her eyes growing wide as she read it.

"What is it?" Van Pelt asked, reaching out and taking it, reading over the paper, her eyes widening as she went along. "Oh my God…"

"We need to call Lisbon and Hotch," Morgan said, standing up and fishing his cell phone out of his pocket, "They need to hear this,"

**~/.\~**

Lisbon frowned as she and Hotch stepped into the cool air of the studio and were greeted by a tall guard in a dark blue uniform, "Ma'am, they're filming and –"

"Agent Lisbon, CBI," she cut him off, flashing her badge, "This is Agent Hotchner, FBI. We need to speak with Harvey Bulkwright immediately."

The guard frowned, looking confused, "There are already agents waiting in his office for him," he said, "They got here almost two hours ago…"

"What other agents?" Lisbon frowned, then swore loudly. "Jane…" she hissed, shaking her head. "Can you take us to Mr. Bulkwright's office, please. And tell him that if we're waiting more than ten minutes, we will arrest him for obstruction." She smiled at the man who looked flustered and swallowed, nodding and leading the way down a long hall to the door of Harvey's office.

He knocked and pushed the door open, frowning when he realized that the office was empty. "That's strange… I know I let them in here. They said they needed to speak with Mr. Bulkwright and they'd wait."

"Typical," Lisbon muttered, shaking her head.

"When you say 'they', who exactly was here?" Hotch frowned, pulling his sunglasses off and studying the guard.

"Um… Two white guys, one with crazy blond hair, wearing a pinstriped suit with, uh… ugly brown shoes… And the other one was tall and skinny, real young looking. Said he was an FBI agent,"

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose and mentally swore. He'd never expected Reid to do something like that. He shook his head and decided to deal with that later. "Thanks," he said.

"And remember," Lisbon called after him, "Ten minutes or I cuff him!"

The guard nodded as he hurried off down the hall and Hotch shook his head, smiling slightly at her.

"Mr. Jane does this sort of thing a lot?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," Lisbon muttered, sitting down in one of the leather chairs. Hotch followed her example. "Too often to count."

"So why put up with him? He's just a consultant. You could easily fire him,"

Lisbon smiled faintly, shaking her head. "He's good," she said. "He closes cases and he gets results. He's a pain in the ass and he doesn't understand protocol, but… Well, I guess I've gotten used to it. It's not like he's a bad person or anything."

Hotch chuckled, shaking his head and looking around the office.

"What about Agent Reid? He doesn't seem like the kind of person to disobey orders like that…"

Hotch's face hardened and he shook his head, "He's not. Reid's a good agent, but… sometimes I really think he joined the BAU too young. He's seen so many bad things and been through so many horrible situations, I'm amazed he's still able to work…"

Lisbon eyed the man sadly. The way Hotch talked about Reid, and the other agents on his team, was more like they were his children than his subordinates. She'd thought she was the only one who looked at her agents that way. She smiled and shook her head, about to say something else when the door to Harvey's office suddenly burst open again and the man in question stood there, glowering at them.

"Listen, agents, this is harassment and I can assure you, I will be filing a complaint about this! I do not have to answer any of your questions and you have no right to come here badgering me when I –"

"Can you tell us about your relationship to Celia Jorge?" Lisbon cut him off, smiling at him as he stuttered to a halt and frowned. "Or explain what you were doing the afternoon of Lila's murder when you were all alone in her office."

Harvey frowned and shut the door, walking around to sit at his desk, "What are you talking about?" he asked. His voice was even and calm, but his eyes were wide and nervous as they flitted between Hotch and Lisbon.

"Celia claims that she found the murder weapon hidden in her office… And the only person that was in her office alone with enough time to hide a weapon, was you, Mr. Bulkwright. Can you explain that for me?"

"I… This is just cruel speculation. Baseless theories!" he snapped, scowling at them. "You have nothing tying me to this murder, nothing tying me to _any _crime whatsoever!"

"Not yet," Hotch agreed, "But there's always evidence, Mr. Bulkwright. It'd be helpful to us and yourself if you just told us what happened."

Harvey scowled at them, "I've heard enough of this," he snapped, "I want you both out of my office right this instant!"

Lisbon raised a brow and started to say something when Hotch's phone buzzed and he fished it out of his pocket, frowning at he glanced at the caller ID and answered. "Hotchner," he paused and listened, "You did? Thank you, Morgan. We'll look it over when we get back."

He snapped the phone shut and Lisbon eyed him curiously as he leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Bulkwright frowned, trying to hear what was being said as he glared at the agent and pressed his lips together tightly.

Lisbon raised a brow and smiled, standing up and pulling her cuffs off her belt, "Mr. Bulkwright, please stand up. You're under arrest,"

**~M/CM~**

**A/N2: *phew* That is a LONG chapter. Jeesh, I did not plan for this chapter to be so long… But I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'll give cookies to whoever can guess what it was Morgan, Van Pelt and Prentiss found… Also, I feel like they're getting close. Probably only a few more chapters left on this story ;) I'm really sad to see it go, but excited to finally get to write my big reveal scene soon! XD**

**Let me know what you think! Please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks so much to all of the fantastical reviewers! You guys are amazing and I love you! :D**

**I think we're VERY close to ending this fic (*sadface*) and I believe this chapter will contain the BIG REVEAL! Woohoo! XD Finally! LOL**

**So you guys will finally find out who the killer is… at least, if this chapter goes how I plan. If not, there will be 2 more chapters instead of 1… We shall see ;)**

**So, onto the chapter!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

Jane was sitting on a couch in the LAPD bullpen… It wasn't anywhere near as comfortable as his familiar brown leather couch at the CBI, but he supposed it would just have to do as he got comfortable and propped the thick movie script up on his knee, keen blue eyes drifting down the page steadily.

"What's he doing?" Garcia whispered, glancing toward Reid, who was sitting next to her silently staring into his full coffee cup. Reid blinked and looked up, meeting JJ and Garcia's curious eyes and looking to where Jane was lying on the couch.

"Hm? Oh, uh, reading," Reid answered absently before going back to staring at his coffee.

JJ sighed and pursed her lips, shaking her head. "Of course he's reading, Spence. But _what _is he reading?"

"An interesting little story, really…" Jane answered from the couch, his eyes never leaving the page in front of him. "Women are very vindictive creatures…"

JJ couldn't help but smile and shake her head, looking confused. Garcia just shrugged, "Of course we are," she said simply, "It's all those hormones we have raging through our bodies…"

Jane grinned, "You're smart too…" he said absently as he flipped the page and 'hmm'ed in interest.

Garcia chucked, shaking her head, "Exactly. And that is why there are so few female serial killers; we know how to get away with it."

Jane's grin widened and he nodded, "Funny you should mention that,"

"Why?" JJ asked, frowning slightly, "What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing really, just… A random little thought I had," he smiled to himself and turned his attention back to the script, continuing to make odd little noises of interest every now and then. JJ and Garcia just smiled and ignored him, turning their attention back to the useless video footage they had and wondering when they'd get their fact-spouting, funny, sweet, rambling Dr. Reid back…

"What happened?" Rossi asked as he, Rigsby and Cho walked into the bullpen.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked, raising a brow at the older profiler as he and the two CBI agents took seats at the conference table.

"Lisbon just called and said they arrested Bulkwright," Rigsby explained, looking confused. "Did you guys find footage of something or…?"

"We didn't find anything," JJ shook her head, looking confused.

"Nope," Garcia agreed. "Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. It's depressing really… usually my babies are able to give me something, but this little demon spawn is intent on wrecking my faith in technology."

Rossi couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head.

"Well, if you didn't find anything, Van Pelt and the others must have," Cho said, frowning.

"But what would they have found at Celia's apartment that would get them enough evidence to arrest Bulkwright?" Rigsby frowned, shaking his head. Celia would really be stupid enough to keep incriminating evidence in her apartment, would she? And even if she was… how did that have anything to do with Harvey Bulkwright anyway?

"You won't believe it when we show you," Prentiss said as she, Van Pelt and Morgan walked in. Van Pelt was carrying an evidence bag containing what looked like a group of papers, shaking her head as she passed them on to Rigsby.

"This woman was more twisted than we thought," Morgan said, pulling a chair out and taking a seat next to Reid.

Cho leaned over Rigsby's shoulder and frowned as he read over a few lines, "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, glancing up at the agents.

"Unfortunately," Van Pelt nodded, stripping her jacket away and tossing it on the back of an empty chair. "I _liked _Celia…"

"Yeah, but I knew that Bulkwright dude was hiding something…" Rigsby muttered.

"Aren't all movie producers?" Jane asked from where he was still lying on the couch, flipping another page and scanning the lines. His smile was gone as he stared at the script intensely, slowly becoming wrapped up in the story on the paper.

Rossi glanced toward the blond consultant and frowned, raising a brow and turning back to the others, "You found this in her apartment?"

"Yep," Prentiss nodded, "Morgan pulled it from the bottom of a box full of financial files."

Van Pelt just shook her head, "You'd think a woman like Celia would at least be smart enough to keep this hidden better…"

"Not necessarily," Rossi murmured, "Celia thinks she's a genius; she couldn't imagine failure in anything that she does, not even this apparently. She never thought she'd be caught…"

"Still," Rigsby sounded skeptical, "She just spelled out the entire thing here… It's insanity."

"Well let's hope her lawyer doesn't try to pull that crap when we show him this," Lisbon was suddenly behind them, snatching the evidence bag and reading over the words with narrowed eyes, her jaw set tight. Hotch was right behind her, a frown on his face as he read over the words.

"Harvey's lawyer was right behind him," he said, "He's talking with him now… I'd give it a couple of hours before going to talk to him."

Lisbon nodded absently, "Good, that gives me enough time to figure this out…" She looked up and frowned when she spotted Jane sitting on the couch reading.

"Hey you," she called, a hint of aggravation in her voice, "Heard you were at Bulkwright's office this morning… Care to explain?"

Jane looked up, his eyes wide and innocent. He shook his head after a moment and smiled at her, "Not really, no."

Lisbon narrowed her eyes at him, "Ok, let me rephrase that," she muttered, "Explain. Now."

Jane sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the couch and sitting up, "There's nothing to explain, Lisbon. I took Dr. Reid to go ask Mr. Bulkwright a few questions and then I realized we didn't need to ask him anything and we left. End of story. No damage done,"

Lisbon sighed and shook her head, "Damn it, Jane, Dr. Reid cannot be involved in this case in any way! We do not need this ending on some technicality, do you understand that? From now on you don't go anywhere without clearing it through me first. We do this by the book. Got it?"

Jane smiled, his smile slightly sad as he nodded, "One hundred percent. By the book, no short cuts… No tricks. No nothing."

Lisbon raised a brow, "And if you know something you're not telling me, spit it out."

"Oh, I don't know anything," Jane assured her, "I'm completely blank."

"Uh huh," Lisbon looked unconvinced but shook her head and sighed, "I need coffee…" she muttered, turning and making her way to the break room. She was tired and aggravated, but she was confident that she had finally, _finally_, gotten it right. Celia was in custody, Harvey was in custody. Now all that was left was to try and get a confession and lay down the charges. Somehow, she'd expected this case to be much harder, but aside from the early mistakes, everything was fine and Jane had been absent for most of the actual work.

Hotch watched her for a moment before turning his attention to Reid, who was sitting at the conference table silently staring at a full cup of coffee. He hadn't said a word since they'd walked into the bullpen.

"Reid,"

The young agent blinked and glanced up at his boss, his eyes widening as if he just realized that Hotch was there. "Huh?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked, raising a brow. "In private," he added, glancing around at the other agents.

Reid sighed and nodded tiredly, "Sure…" he said, standing and following Hotch down the hall to an empty Observation Room.

"What's that about?" Morgan frowned, glancing to JJ and Garcia.

"Beats me," Garcia shrugged, "Reid's been quiet all day…" she sighed and looked toward the empty hall where Reid and Hotch had just disappeared.

Prentiss sighed too, "He'll be alright," she said, "…Won't he?"

"Of course he will," Jane grinned as he sat up and flipped the script he'd been reading closed. "Dr. Reid's a tough kid, it'll take a while, but before you know it, he'll be good as new."

JJ smiled and shook her head, "You sound so sure,"

"Of course I'm sure," Jane assured her, "Trust me, Agent Jareau, I'm very rarely wrong. It's almost an impossibility." He flashed another grin and sat the script down on the table, his brows creasing when he spotted a small stack of papers sitting on the side. He snatched the top sheet and squinted as he skimmed the page.

"What's this?" he asked, glancing up at Rigsby and Cho and showing them the paper.

Rigsby leaned over and glanced at the paper, "Oh, uh, that's the list of actresses that auditioned for the role Lila was cast in in that new movie she was doing…"

"Hm…"

"What is it, Jane?" Cho asked, watching the blond man with sharp eyes.

"Nothing, nothing…" Jane grinned, "I just got some great news…" He looked toward Reid's empty seat and sighed, shaking his head.

"Wanna share?" Van Pelt asked, raising a brow.

Jane blinked, then shook his head, "Hm? Oh, no, no. It's something I need to tell Dr. Reid…"

**~/.\~**

Hotch ran a hand tiredly through his hair and studied the young agent in front of him. Reid, for the most part, still seemed as unresponsive as ever, though he was fidgeting nervously. He knew what it was that his boss wanted to talk to him about and he wasn't thrilled about being berated.

After a long and tense silence, Hotch finally sighed, "Reid… I understand what you're going through better than anyone else on the team…" he started slowly, measuring his words carefully. He hadn't talked about Hailey much since she was killed, but he knew that this was something that had to be said.

Reid dropped his eyes and shifted nodding, "Hotch, I know I shouldn't have gone, but –"

"But nothing, Reid," Hotch cut him off, shaking his head. "Any part you play in this investigation could potentially get this case thrown out. You can afford to make any reckless decisions here."

Reid bit his lip and sighed, "I can't just do nothing," he said quietly, "I can't."

Hotch eyed Reid sadly and sighed, "I understand that you want to find who did this, Reid. But you're not thinking clearly right now and you need to just take a step back and let us handle it."

Reid's jaw tightened and he looked up, meeting his boss's eyes, "You didn't," he said, the words hard and bitter.

Hotch looked down and shook his head, "Reid, this is different," he said. He paused and took a breath, "Maybe you should go back to the hotel and rest. We'll keep you updated. We can't afford for you to do something stupid and get yourself or someone else hurt."

Reid narrowed his eyes, "No. Hotch, I can't go back and rest. I'm not going to stop until we catch this bastard and make sure that they pay for what they did."

Without another word, the young agent brushed passed the older man and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Hotch sighed heavily and stood there for a long moment. He very rarely saw Reid blow up like that. Reid was usually able to maintain his composure in the field, and the few times that he hadn't, Hotch had always stepped in and told him to straighten up. But this time was different because Hotch really understood where Reid was coming from.

After all, when he'd been trying to save Hailey and Jack from Foyet, he hadn't been thinking clearly either. And he'd broken a lot of rules. His family was at stake and he understood Reid's anger and need for vengeance. He couldn't find it in him to tell Reid he had to stay away… He hadn't really done anything damaging yet and Hotch decided, against his better judgment, to allow the hurting young man a little more leeway. It was the least he could really do under the circumstances.

**~/.\~**

Jane spotted Reid leaving the observation room and quickly jogged to catch up with the younger man, ignoring the confused looks from his teammates and the other agents in the BAU.

"Dr. Reid!" he called, huffing as he caught up and Reid turned, blinking at him. He doubled over for a moment to catch his breath, holding up a hand and breathing heavily. "I need to talk to you."

"I was going to talk to Agent Lisbon about listening in on Harvey Bulkwright's interrogation," Reid said.

Jane straightened up, shaking his head, "Don't bother, the man's a scum bag, but he's innocent,"

Reid raised a brow, "He is?" he asked, "You're sure?"

"Absolutely," Jane nodded, "I think it's safe to say that Harvey got cold feet about the whole murder plot anyway." Jane held out the script in his hands and flipped it open to somewhere near the end, "But someone who's seen this script killed Lila."

"But that could be Harvey or Celia," Reid told him, frowning.

"Could be, but it isn't," Jane assured him, "It was someone else. And I think I know who… Here, look, read this…" He pointed out a passage in the script and passed it to the doctor, watching Reid's eyes move down the page at lightning speed.

When he was finished his face was pale and he looked up at Jane with wide eyes, "But this is..."

"The crime scene almost exactly?" Jane asked, raising a brow, "My point exactly. Except for the Red John smiley face, it's the same scene. Apparently, the main character, Lila's character, was killed at the end of the movie by the crazy stalker… He had stolen a red ribbon from her earlier and left it on her severed throat after killing her. It's actually a fascinating story. Terrifying, but fascinating."

Reid's hand shook slightly as he passed the script back to Jane and frowned, "But if it wasn't Celia or Harvey, who was it?"

Jane grinned wide and grabbed his arm, "Come with me, I'll show you!"

**~/.\~**

Lisbon glanced at her watch and then back out to the couch that Jane had been lounging on earlier. Empty. She sighed and shook her head, brushing her hair out of her face and stepping out of the office. She briefly wondered whose office it was and considered apologizing for taking it over for the past few days… Then decided against it. There were plenty of desks and computers here for them to work on while they were here. Solving this case was more important.

"Agent Hotchner!" she called as she started down the hall, "Harvey's ready to talk to us now."

The older man looked tired and stressed, not that she blamed him, and said something to Agent Morgan quietly before standing and walking toward her.

"Where's Jane?" Lisbon called, raising a brow at her agents curiously. She hated when he vanished like this without telling her where he was going. It never meant anything good for her or the case.

"Um, he said he'd learned something important and had to talk to Dr. Reid," Van Pelt said, brows scrunching together. "Then he took off."

Lisbon grumbled and shook her head, muttering under her breath before leading the way down to the interrogation room where Harvey Bulkwright and his lawyer were waiting.

"Did you talk to Dr. Reid?" Lisbon asked, glancing up at the other man before they pushed the doors open.

Hotch nodded and then frowned, "He'll be fine, he just needs some time to wrap his head around things,"

Lisbon watched the sad, worried look on Agent Hotchner's face and nodded. She knew Dr. Reid was going through a lot right now, but she was sure that with a team like his, he wouldn't be going through it alone. At least, not for long. It seemed Jane had sort of hijacked the young man from his team lately, but as soon as this case was closed and behind them, everything could go back to normal.

Harvey looked incredibly pissed off when they entered the room and his lawyer much the same, sitting with his arms crossed, expensive suit looking rumpled.

"Mr. Bulkwright, I –" Lisbon started to say something but his lawyer cut her off and her face settled into an angry scowl.

"Miss Lisbon, I demand to know what you think you're doing. You cannot arrest someone without evidence or a proper warrant and I will make sure that I –"

"It's _Agent_ Lisbon," Lisbon ground through her teeth, her eyes narrow, "And I do happen to have evidence to charge Mr. Bulkwright with Insurance Fraud, Conspiracy to commit murder and, oh, yeah, Murder."

"That's absurd!" Harvey protested, shaking his head, "I've never killed anyone!"

"But you do admit to the Insurance Fraud and the Conspiracy?" Hotch asked, raising a brow at the man. He wasn't exactly sure what it was about Harvey Bulkwright that made him really hate the man, but he did.

Harvey bristled, "I most certainly do not! You have no right to arrest me in my office, and without any evidence whatsoever!"

"Well that's the thing, Mr. Bulkwright," Lisbon said, leaning forward, holding the evidence bag in her hands and studying it. "We got a warrant to search Celia's apartment and we found this." She passed the papers over to him and sat back, smirking slightly as the blood drained from his face.

"And that was enough to arrest you and get a warrant for your office and home. Tell me, do you think we'll find more evidence there?" she raised a brow and grinned as Harvey's lawyer snatched the papers and began to read over them.

"But… but this is -?"

"A detailed summary of the charges I just laid out?" Lisbon asked, smiling, "Why, yes, it is. Apparently, Mr. Bulkwright and Miss Jorge were planning to kill our victim, Lila Archer. That paper outlines every single step. Makes it much easier to figure out who did what."

"You and Celia were planning this for a long time," Hotch said, setting a stern glare on the movie producer, "You would take an insurance policy of Lila's life, with Celia standing in for Lila. Not easy to pull off, but Celia being Lila's agent, she knew all of her personal information and you had enough money to get it done, didn't you?"

Harvey shifted, his eyes staying locked on the paper, not saying a word.

"And then, to make sure it didn't look too suspicious, you added her boyfriend's name to policy," Lisbon added, "And after enough time had passed you would kill Lila, right?" She smiled and pulled the paper closer, "But that's not even the most interesting part, is it?"

She glanced at Hotch and the FBI agent shook his head, "The most interesting thing is that you, Mr. Bulkwright, apparently have a fascination with serial killers and decided that the best way to get away with this would be to make it look like Red John had killed Lila. She was close enough to his type; it shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Harvey was sweating and he mopped his brow, shaking his head, "No, you've got it wrong… I mean… Celia and I… we did plan this, but… I mean, we never… I never…"

Lisbon raised a brow, "Really? Then explain why Lila death was staged to look like Red John, just like you planned. Explain why Lila was killed right before shooting for _Crimson Tides _began, just like you planned. Or better yet, explain where you were at the time of the murder. You never did before. Or can you?"

Harvey swallowed and glanced to his lawyer before taking a breath, "I was at home, alone, working on script revisions," he sighed, "I didn't kill her, Agent, I swear! I thought Celia had killed her without telling me. When Lila got suspicious, she called her boyfriend, that Spencer kid, and asked him to come. We agreed to back off and wait a while, but the next thing I hear, Lila's dead."

"But Celia couldn't have killed Lila," Hotch reminded the man, "She has an alibi."

"I know!" Harvey ran a hand through his hair, "I know! Which makes no sense. Because I didn't kill her. Someone else had to have killed her."

Lisbon pursed her lips, "You're not being very convincing, Harvey," she said, shaking her head. "You're telling me that you and Celia _planned _to kill Lila, but that despite the fact that you have no alibi and the murder was virtually identical to the one you planned, you are innocent?"

"Yes!" Harvey nodded, "Look, Agent Lisbon, I don't expect you to believe me, but it's true! I'm not even the one who planned this! Celia did! She's came to me! She asked for my help, she planned the entire thing!"

"So the only contribution you had was to cover it up as Red John?" Hotch asked raising a brow. Thinking about it, what the man was saying made sense. Celia was definitely an alpha personality and cold enough to commit murder for profit. But then, so was Harvey. It was rare that two people with dominant personalities would work together… He doubted the relationship would have lasted very long…

Harvey set his jaw and cleared his throat, looking down at his hands, "…Okay, I know that what I did was wrong, but I didn't kill anyone!"

"Well I look forward to watching your lawyer try to prove that in court," Lisbon said, standing up and smiling at him, "You two can have a nice chat, okay? Maybe explain exactly what you were thinking when you wrote down your entire plan."

Harvey looked pissed, glaring at the agents as they left the room, closing the door. "What do you think?" Lisbon asked, glancing up at Hotch as they made their way down the hall.

"It's hard to tell… He seems sincere, but he could be faking. What doesn't make sense is that both Celia and Harvey are smart enough to know that with Reid coming here to see Lila, killing her would only make things worse for them. They'd look more suspicious. Especially if they didn't know for sure whether or not Lila told him exactly what she thought was going on. They should have waited, they had plenty of time."

Lisbon sighed, "Still, we've got them both cold," she said, "There's no way that they can deny the evidence and Harvey's already admitted to planning the murder. I'm sure a little talk with Celia will reveal more."

Hotch nodded, "They'll start turning on each other. Still… I'm not sure…"

"About what?"

"Celia is clearly the one who wanted Lila dead, why would Harvey kill her in a panic instead of just backing out of the plan altogether?"

Lisbon pursed her lips, hating to admit that he had a point, "Let's see what Celia has to say before making any judgments,"

They walked into the bullpen to spot Van Pelt, Garcia and JJ bent over a computer screen, still looking over footage. Prentiss, Rigsby, Cho and Rossi were in the middle of some heated conversation. Apparently Prentiss and Rigsby believed that Celia was the real mastermind behind the murder plot and the motive was purely money and hate and Cho and Rossi thought Harvey had planned the whole thing for some sexual motive and got Celia to help him.

"Where are Morgan and Reid?" Hotch asked, frowning.

"Jane's still gone?" Lisbon frowned worriedly at the empty couch. She'd expected him back by now, he'd been gone a while as far as she knew.

"Uh, Morgan went to find Reid when he didn't answer his call," Prentiss explained, "And… Jane's been gone a while."

"Haven't heard from him either," Rigsby explained, "We tried calling him, but he didn't pick up."

Lisbon sighed, "Didn't anyone think to go check on him?" she asked, "He's already been kidnapped once this year."

"Really?" Prentiss couldn't help but smile slightly, "Maybe leaving him with Reid is a bad idea then…"

Lisbon sighed, looking at her team, "Find him and tell him I want him back here ASAP,"

"But… he didn't tell us where he was going…" Rigsby said, "And he hasn't been answering his cell phone…"

Garcia rolled her eyes, minimizing the screen on the laptop, "I can find him in no time as long as his phone's on. What's the number?"

**~/.\~**

"What are we doing here?" Reid asked as they got out of Jane's car and the older man grabbed him by the arm, dragging him toward a large glass building. "Jane?"

"Just trust me, you're about to find out who killed Lila," Jane said evasively, still dragging the young agent forward and pushing them through the doors. Reid was confused as they marched through the entrance to the lobby. He looked a little sick and took a breath, glancing at the other man.

"I… I uh… I need to go to the bathroom," he said finally, "Give me a minute, ok?"

"Sure, sure," Jane nodded, "The bathroom's down that hall. I'll wait for you at the reception desk. Trust me, it'll all make sense soon." He offered the young man a grin and watched as he hurried off down a narrow hall.

Shaking his head, Jane continued to the reception area. He understood why the young man was so anxious. If he was right, they were about to come face to face with the person who had killed his girlfriend. That would be stressful for anyone, especially someone who'd been through as much as Reid had in the past few days.

Jane grinned as he spotted the now familiar face of Julie, the receptionist. "Hi," he greeted her cheerily. She looked up and visibly grimaced, clearly still annoyed.

"Look, seriously, haven't you people gotten all of your evidence and asked all of your questions yet?" Julie demanded, practically glaring at Jane, "You arrest Miss Jorge, what else do you need here?"

Jane just grinned and leaned against the counter, "Well, actually, I want to talk to you, Julie…" he beamed at her, "Could you tell me what your last name is?"

Julie raised a brow, folding her arms across her chest, "What for?"

"I'm just curious," Jane shrugged, still smiling pleasantly at her. "You're an interesting young woman, you know…"

Julie eyed him suspiciously and pursed her lips, "Carlson," she answered finally.

"Hm… So… You did know Lila then?"

"Wha- I… I mean, sure. She was here all the time, this _is _Miss Jorge's office," Julie fumbled, blinking confusedly.

"Well, yes, but there's more than that, isn't there? You both auditioned for _Crimson Tides_, didn't you? You must've been upset when you didn't get the part," Jane was still smiling easily at her, but Julie looked exceedingly uncomfortable.

"I… I did audition, but what does that have to do with –"

"Upset enough to kill her, maybe? You've been working here for years, trying to get Celia to notice you, sending in resumes and headshots… I saw one of them she had in her office," Jane tilted her head, "But you could never compete with her star client, Lila Archer, could you?"

Julie clenched her teeth, "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about, but I think it's time for you to leave –"

"Lila getting that part was just the tip of ice burg," Jane continued, ignoring the girl's angry glare as she tightened her fists. "Lila was always stealing your attention… You've probably been passed over quite a few times because of her, huh? So you decided to take out the completion… and maybe get back at Celia for never paying attention to you,"

"She was a stupid, talentless whore!" Julie growled, "I deserved that role, but Lila got it because her agent is screwing the producer! I should've been cast, not that stupid, bottle blond bitch!" Her face was red and jaw tight. Jane raised a brow and nodded.

"So you decided to kill her and frame Celia… Only, Celia found the knife and framed Dr. Reid…"

"That wasn't supposed to happen…" Julie's voice was small then and she looked somewhat guilty, "Spencer's a nice guy, it's not his fault his girlfriend was an attention stealing –"

Jane cut her off, clearing his throat and shaking his head, "Well, I must admit you are quite the actress. You almost had me fooled… If you hadn't left that ribbon at the crime scene, I probably would never have figured out who killed Lila… But you just couldn't resist, could you?"

Julie leaned forward, shaking her head, "No, I suppose not… But I won't say I'm sorry. Celia's a blind idiot and Lila Archer didn't deserve anything she had. I'm glad I killed her. I'm glad she's dead." Her voice was hard as nails as she set a cold glare on Jane.

The blond consultant was slightly wary of that look in her steely eyes and he shifted, "Ah, Julie… I think you might be crazier than Celia and Harvey put together… It's almost sad; I'd feel bad for having you arrested if you weren't so incredibly wrong."

Julie smiled, an eerie, wide smile, shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder, and reached into a desk drawer, "Yeah, well… Crazy or not, I can't let you arrest me,"

Jane took a half step back as Julie pulled a revolver from the drawer and pointed it at the consultant. Jane swallowed and made a face, glancing behind him and wondering where Reid was. "Of course you've got gun," he muttered, shaking his head. Why did the crazies always have guns? Just once he'd love it if someone would put up their hands in surrender and say "You got me," instead of trying to blow his head off. It would be a refreshing change of pace.

"Move," Julie stood and waved the gun, walking around the desk and grabbing Jane by the arm. He winced, surprised at her powerful grip and tensed when he felt the barrel of the gun dig into his back.

"You're only making things worse, Julie…" Jane's voice shook slightly. Damn it, he hated guns. He really, really did. "Think this through, you can't really kill me and expect to get away with it."

"I don't have to get away with it. I just have to buy enough time to get out of here," Julie said, her voice cold. Jane shivered and set his teeth, shaking his head as she pressed the gun against his spine.

"Now move, or I'll shoot you in the spine,"

Reluctantly, Jane started to move forward, his steps careful and measured as they made it out to the hall and turned toward the entrance. "Really, Julie, could you please move the gun?" Jane asked, grimacing, "It's digging into my lower back,"

Julie responded by shoving it harder against his spine and growling in his ear, "Shut up and keep moving,"

"Drop the weapon!"

From behind them, Jane and Julie heard the hard, angry voice of Spencer Reid and Julie whipped around moving the gun and pressing it tightly against Jane's throat.

"Don't move or he's dead," she hissed, her eyes darting around the space. She never expected this. The only way out would be to kill them both and she wasn't exactly thrilled with that option…

Reid was standing at end of the hall. He'd spotted the two of them heading toward the exit. When he noticed the gun, he'd simply reacted, drawing the glock he'd "borrowed" from Morgan earlier. His finger rested on the trigger and he stubbornly glared the young girl down.

"I said drop the gun, Julie," Reid ordered, his voice as cold and emotionless as hers was.

"Spencer, please, don't make me hurt you," Julie sounded desperate, "Just put your gun down and walk away,"

"Don't listen to her Dr. Reid," Jane suddenly spoke, grimacing when Julie shoved the gun tighter against his throat, "She killed Lila."

Reid was pale as he studied the young woman, watching Julie's face break slightly, her finger tightening on the trigger. "I had to!" she protested, "She didn't deserve to live!"

Reid swallowed roughly, fighting to stay focused, "You killed Lila?" his voice was small and quivering.

Julie pressed her lips together and ignored the question, "Just put down your gun, Spencer, please,"

Reid shook his head, taking a breath and gathering his tangled, trampled thoughts. "No," he said sternly, "Julie, I'm only going to tell you one more time. Drop your gun and let Jane go or I will shoot to kill."

Julie shook her head, "You wouldn't risk his life like that, Spencer. You don't have a clear shot,"

"I have a clear enough shot, now… Drop. The. Gun."

Julie shook her head, "Don't think I won't kill him, Spencer," she warned, "Just sit your gun down and I'll let you both walk away,"

Reid shook his head, finger tight against the trigger and took a breath, "I can't do that, Julie…" he said quietly before pulling the trigger and hoping he didn't hit Jane in process as the bullet careened out of the gun and hit the young receptionist right between the eyes.

Jane yelled and nearly toppled over, covering his ears, "OW!" he screamed, doubling over and shifting on his feet to get as far away from Julie's body as he could.

Reid watched her fall and slowly lowered his gun, running toward her and kneeling. Her eyes were wide open and empty. Swallowing roughly, he felt for a pulse and stood on shaky legs, glancing toward his friend.

"You alright?" he asked worriedly, watching as Jane clutched his head.

Jane practically yelled as he replied, "Yeah… I will be. When everything stops ringing,"

Reid managed a small smile and fell against the wall, letting the glock slip from his fingers and closing his eyes. Just when he felt himself starting to drift off into some peaceful realm of grief and sorrow, the glass doors were pushed open and Derek Morgan rushed in, only to stop and stumble as he spotted Julie's body.

"Wh… What the hell happened?" He looked to his young friend who was leaning against the wall and then to Jane, who was still holding his head in his hands. Right behind him, Lisbon, Hotch, Prentiss, Rossi, Van Pelt, JJ and Rigsby rushed in, stopped cold when they too caught sight of the dead woman.

"Jane, what the hell did you do?" Lisbon demanded, frowning at her consultant as he started to straighten up.

Jane forced a smile and his eyes went from Lisbon to Julie's body. "We caught your killer, Lisbon, what else does it look like we did?"

**~M/CM~**

**E/N: So… Wow… I truly hope I surprised you guys with the reveal of the killer :3 Julie was seriously fun to write in this chapter XD**

**Also… sorry it took so long to update. I was in GA for Thanksgiving and didn't get to write much before leaving and had no internet there to post anyway… So, I gave you guys a much longer chapter again :D Say thanks by reviewing please! Your opinions mean the world to me!**

**I think we're almost done… Only one more chapter to go, if my calculations are correct… Sort of sad to see this one ending, but excited to write it :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thanks so much for all of the wonderful, amazing reviews guys! I heart you!**

**And I'm sorry for the delay in updating, technically, I'm still "grounded". I was going to update yesterday, but my dad had the day off so I couldn't get to my laptop until today, sorry.**

**And this is the LAST CHAPTER guys :'( I'm really going to miss this one, but I had so much fun writing it! Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to review!**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**-OoO-oOo-OoO-**

The sun was streaming in through the window of the office that Lisbon had commandeered for the last few days. This was her last morning in whoever's office it was and she was spending it standing in front of the desk, crossing her fingers with Jane at her side.

Hightower had made a special trip to Los Angeles just for them. She was sitting behind the desk, pursing her lips and eyeing the two of them skeptically.

"And that's what happened?" she asked, raising a brow.

Lisbon had to work a bit to keep her voice even and steady. She'd never really approved of lying, but found herself doing it more and more often since Jane had started working with them.

"Yes, ma'am," she nodded, "We arrived at Celia Jorge's office to find her receptionist, Julie Carlson, holding Jane and Doctor Reid at gunpoint. We tried to talk her down, but she refused and Agent Morgan took the only shot he had in order to save them."

Hightower narrowed her eyes, shaking her head. "Why is it that I don't believe you?" she muttered, massaging her temples. "Alright, alright… And the evidence you found in Julie's apartment that corroborated her confession?"

Lisbon glanced at Jane, who was being oddly quiet, hands folded behind his back. She sighed and turned back to Hightower, "We found several photos of Lila Archer that had been, um… vandalized. We also found a copy of the key to Lila's house and Lila's shooting schedule. The tech analyst, Garcia, went through the rest of the security footage and found Julie sneaking into Celia's office the night of the murder, after Celia left,"

Hightower nodded, "And you still don't know why the footage from yesterday is… missing?" she asked, eyeing them with piercing brown eyes.

Jane finally spoke up, a smile tugging at his lips, "Nope. It's crazy, isn't it? How the cameras just apparently weren't working during my moment of absolute terror?"

Hightower rolled her eyes, "Oh for God's sake, Jane," she sighed, looking between the two of them. "What about Celia and Harvey?"

Lisbon cleared her throat, "They're both on their way to arraignment in a few hours. Harvey's claiming Celia was the mastermind behind the whole thing; Celia says it was all Harvey's idea,"

Hightower leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. She didn't believe them for a second, but she had a feeling that if they'd told the true story she'd be dealing with FBI and internal affairs for months to come.

"So that's it? Case closed?" she asked, trying not to sound as hopeful as she actually was.

Lisbon and Jane nodded and spoke at the same time.

"Case closed," they agreed.

Hightower nodded, "Good. Then wrap this up and get back to Sacramento. The sooner this is behind us, the better,"

**~/.\~**

Hotch was waiting outside of the office when Lisbon and Jane exited. Jane immediately made his way to the break room for one last Styrofoam cup of tea, vowing to write the Chief a letter about their lack of proper tea utensils.

"How'd it go?" Hotch asked as soon as they were out of Hightower's earshot. She was on her cellphone, apparently having and argument with her husband, but Hotch didn't want to take any chances.

Lisbon pressed her lips together, "I don't think she bought it for a minute," she admitted, "But she let it go. As far as Hightower's concerned, the case is closed. Who cares who actually took the shot?"

She shrugged, but Hotch could tell she was still uncomfortable about lying to her boss. But she understood that if they'd told the real story, months of inquires would've pushed back the case, and while Reid would probably have gotten cleared, the cases against Celia and Harvey would've fallen under question if his involvement was made known. Covering it up was just easier and saved everyone time and headaches.

Hotch smiled at her, "Thank you, Agent Lisbon. You probably saved my team a huge IA disaster,"

Lisbon cracked a smile, shrugging again. "Nah. I've had to cover Jane's butt for worse. At least Doctor Reid's shoot was good…" she trailed off and glanced toward the small kitchenette where she could just hear Jane puttering around.

"Besides, we would've had an IA crap storm over here too," she told him. "Hightower would not have enjoyed that. We already spend too much time cleaning up Jane's messes."

Hotch chuckled lightly, "If he causes you that much hassle, why keep him around?"

Lisbon smiled thoughtfully, "He closes cases… and he's kind of grown on me," she glanced toward the break room again and sighed, "Besides, we're all he's got anymore. We're his family."

Hotch nodded, thinking about his own team. They were his family… and besides Jack, they were all he really had left too. "I'd keep a close eye on him. He's a good man, but he's been through a lot and he doesn't show it. That's a disaster waiting to happen,"

Lisbon wanted to argue with him, but how could she? He was right. Ever since last summer, Jane had become more and more unstable and she _was_ worried about him. More so than she'd ever been before.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna let him do anything stupid anytime soon," she said.

Part of her knew how wrong she was. There was no controlling Patrick Jane, but she still hoped, somewhere in the back of her mind, that all his talk of revenge and murder would never pan out. As often as she said she'd arrest him or stop him… she honestly didn't know what she'd do if he ever really did find Red John. And she was scared to find out what _he'd _do if he found the man. She'd seen that scary light in his eyes when he talked about him and knew that the mind behind it was capable of doing terrible things and he'd had a long time to plan.

Hotch eyed her sadly, thinking that no matter how hard she tried, Lisbon would never been able to prevent Jane from snapping one day, and nodded, "I'd say it's been a pleasure, but under the circumstances…"

Lisbon nodded, "Right," she smiled, "Still, maybe I'll give the BAU a call someday… maybe a less stressful case. And if you guys are ever in California, I'm sure Jane would love seeing Garcia again."

Hotch smiled and shook her hand, still surprised at how strong the small woman's grip was, "She'd probably enjoy that too…"

**~/.\~**

Reid was sitting in the bullpen, pressing his lips together and holding a cup of coffee between his knees. The team was leaving for the airstrip in a couple of hours and he'd decided to stay behind and oversee Lila's funeral arrangements. They'd never really talked about what they wanted after they'd died. Why would they? They were both still so young, and who would've guessed that Lila would've gone before he did?

He was waiting to go with the team to the jet. He'd only be in LA a few more days, but he was already feeling the weight of being here for nearly a week. He couldn't wait to get out of this city and back home as soon as he could. There were too many painful memories here that he wanted to get away from as quickly as possible.

"Reid,"

The young agent look up when Hotch walked in stood in front of him, arms folded. He had a serious look on his face and Reid felt a heavy pang of guilt hit him in the chest. He knew that the team, and Agent Lisbon's team, had risked a lot lying about what had really happened in Celia's office. All to make sure that he would be able to keep his job and not being suspended. He looked down and stared at his hands, not saying anything.

Hotch sighed and move closer, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Reid, listen to me," Hotch kept his voice steady, but he was really worried about the young man. He'd become withdrawn and according to Prentiss, as volatile as he'd been after the Hankel ordeal. Hotch did not like the implications of that.

Reid looked up and winced when he saw the worry in his boss's eyes. He knew what was coming and couldn't really say he blamed him for thinking it.

"What happened to Lila was not your fault and there's nothing you could have done to change that," Hotch told him, "I understand, believe me, I do. I know the pain you're in right now, and … I don't know if it ever really gets any better, but…" he paused, not sure how to word what he was about to say.

The team all knew about his addiction, they'd danced around the subject for years, just hoping it would go away on its own if they didn't acknowledge it.

Reid swallowed and finished it for him, "I know Hotch. It won't make it any better…" he whispered, "I'm not going to do anything stupid, I promise," his words were quiet and he looked down. "As soon as I get back to Virginia, I'll go to a meeting."

Hotch nodded, squeezing Reid's shoulder gently, "We're all here for you, Reid," he reminded him, "If you ever need to talk about anything, you can call any of us, no matter what time it is…" he paused and smiled slightly, "Well, except Rossi. I think he'd appreciate it if you didn't wake him up at 4 a.m."

Reid smiled, laughing lightly, "Yeah, probably…"

Hotch sighed and smile, at least Reid was able to laugh. He let his hand fall from the young man's shoulder and nodded, "And Reid…"

Reid glanced back up at Hotch and the Unit Chief sighed, "Take some time off to get your head right, ok? As much time as you need,"

The young agent nodded. He wasn't sure how long he'd be able to go without work, but he knew Hotch was right. He really shouldn't be working right now. "I will," he promised, taking a long drink of coffee and wondering what he was going to do with any length of time off.

**~/.\~**

Jane was just pouring the boiling water into his tiny foam cup, muttering to himself angrily about how barbaric it was, when he felt someone behind him and, dipping the small teabag into the water and holding it gently by the string, he turned and smiled when he saw Reid.

"Ah, Doctor, heard the good news yet?"

Reid smiled, "Yes..." he nodded, stepping farther into the break room and looking around for a moment, taking a breath. Jane blinked and groaned inwardly. Damn it. He should've seen this coming, honestly. Why hadn't he insisted on leaving as soon as Hightower told them they could go? Or at the very least, why hadn't he hidden in a closet or something?

Reid noticed the other man's apprehension and he smiled a little wider, "Agent Van Pelt told me you didn't like to be thanked," he said slowly.

Jane nodded and started walking, "Nope, not really. No need to even say it, I was on my way out and –"

"Wait," Reid stopped him and Jane sighed, turning back to face the young man. He liked him, really, he did, but why did he have to say thank you? It's not like he'd really done anything anyway.

"Agent Van Pelt said you didn't like being thanked," Reid repeated, "So I'm not going to say it."

Jane relaxed somewhat. At least that made things a little less awkward. He waited to see what the young doctor wanted and frowned when he passed him a small folder of papers. He sat his foam cup down on the counter and flipped through them quickly. "What's this?" he asked, raising a brow.

Reid took a breath, "I read the Red John case file last night… Agent Lisbon got me a copy. It's just a preliminary profile really. I haven't ever seen a real Red John crime scene, but … maybe it'll be helpful,"

Jane blinked and flipped back to the front, reading over some of it. Reid smiled as he saw Jane's eyes get a sort of crazed, hungry look in them. He'd seen that look every single time Jane mentioned Red John.

"Van Pelt also said you didn't really believe in profiling, but considering that's exactly what you do I don't see how you can't,"

Jane's lips tugged into a grin and he closed the folder, "Well, technically, I'm not profiling them. I'm reading their minds… without actually reading anyone's mind. It's called –"

"Mentalism," Reid supplied, nodding. "I know. I've read books on it. It's very similar to what profiler's do. Reading body language, facial expression… with the addition of mind tricks and hypnosis on occasion."

Jane grinned, nodding. "You are good, Doctor… Ever read any magic books?"

Reid actually grinned, for the first time in nearly a week, and nodded, "Are you kidding? I still do. I used to put on shows for my parents before…" he trailed off and his grin fell slightly.

Jane's eyes sparked, "We have more in common than I thought…" He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, "How good are you with cards?"

Reid blinked, surprised, "Why?"

"Ever played Poker?"

And Reid's eyes lit up, a smile on his face, "You won't win," he warned the consultant.

Jane's grin broadened. Oh, he loved a challenge. "We'll see about that,"

**~/.\~**

Morgan and Hotch were quietly discussing exactly how they were going to monitor Reid's behavior without making the younger man suspicious or angry when JJ and Prentiss rushed into the bullpen with excited eyes.

Hotch frowned, "We're leaving in an hour," he said, "I thought you two were back at the hotel getting ready,"

"We were going to but…" JJ trailed off and glanced at Prentiss who continued for her.

"You have got to see this, Reid and Jane are playing Poker,"

Morgan grinned and Hotch's brows creased, "Does Jane know Reid cheats?" he asked.

Morgan nodded, "See, I told you, even Hotch knows he's cheating. A genius who knows magic tricks and he's winning fair and square?"

JJ rolled her eyes, "Oh, please, you guys are just sore losers. Prentiss and I have both beaten Reid before,"

"Once," Morgan muttered, standing from his seat, "C'mon, I've gotta see this. Who's winning?"

Hotch chuckled to himself and looked up when Rossi approached the table, shaking his head. "That is one game I wouldn't bet on," he murmured.

Hotch grinned, "Why?"

The older profiler shrugged, "There's no way to tell who's gonna win. This could go on forever…" Rossi let his voice trail off and Hotch sighed, pushing his chair back and standing.

"More than another hour, huh?"

Rossi pressed his lips together, smiling slightly, "That's possible…"

"I'll push the flight back a little longer. Strauss did give us a week off… Might as well make the most of it,"

Rossi smiled dryly, "Who's your money on?" he asked, raising a brow.

Hotch raised a brow at the Italian and smirked, "I don't gamble,"

"Scared you'll lose? It's 50-50, Hotch, c'mon, you've got a shot at winning," Rossi smirked and the Unit Chief narrowed his eyes.

He looked straight ahead and smiled, "My money's on Reid."

Rossi chuckled, "Mine too… But then, all of Jane's teammates are betting on him. Maybe we're biased,"

Hotch grinned for a brief moment and thought about that, "Maybe. We'll have to wait and see, won't we?"

**~M/CM~**

**FIN**

**~M/CM~**

**E/N: And Ta-da! The end! I had so much fun writing this fic and it wasn't even anywhere near as horrific as some of the other things I've written…**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the wrap up… Maybe I'll write more CM/Mentalist stuff later. We shall see… Anyway, let me know what you guys think! Pretty, pretty please!**

**Also, "All's Fair in Love and War" (sequel to "The Morning After") should be posted sometime soon, maybe next week. If you're interested, keep an eye out for it.**

**So, *sniffles* it's truly over. I had a blast guys!**

**Don't forget to review!**


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